Saturday night live: Big B and Modi
The National Democratic Alliance government has pulled out all the stops to mark its second anniversary, with public meetings by Prime Minister Modi in the four corners of the country and a marathon five-hour television show starring him and his Cabinet, along with superstar Amitabh Bachchan at India Gate on May 28.
Rally in Saharanpur
Officials dealing with the preparations told The Hindu that Mr. Modi would address a rally in Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh on May 26 — the day he took the oath of office in 2014.
The Prime Minister will travel to Balasore in Odisha for a farmers’ rally on June 2. Two more rallies are planned — one in Karnataka in the south and another in western India, though the locations have not been decided.
The big-ticket celebration will, however, be on May 28, when the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet will speak about the government’s achievements live on television from India Gate. The programme, scheduled from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., will be broadcast by Doordarshan with an audience drawn from the public, including beneficiaries of government programmes such as the Ujjwala cooking gas scheme and the Mudra bank scheme.
“The theme song for the second anniversary celebrations speaks of ‘Desh badal raha hai’ (the country is changing) and therefore, we have shot with people on the ground who have actually benefited from the government programmes,” an official said.
“The Prime Minister is also scheduled to speak during the event. Ministers will be grouped in batches for the programme,” said a senior official involved with the preparations.
Celebrities on board
“A cultural programme has been organised to intersperse with the ministerial aspect; several celebrities including Mr. Bachchan have confirmed their participation,” said an official. Five other Doordarshan centres — Mumbai, Bengaluru, Vijaywada, Jaipur and Shillong — will participate in the live event.
NFDC roped in
The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) has been roped in to handle the production and Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Central Board of Film Certification member, actor and BJP leader, is the creative director.
Two days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the theme songproduced by the advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather.
“These celebrations will be focussed and calibrated, with the same hashtag (#TransformingIndia) on Twitter being mandated for use by the entire Council of Ministers. Everyone has to be on message, seamlessly,” said a senior official in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
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