File picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Agence France-Presse)
Heavy rain has forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel a visit to his constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for a second time in recent weeks. PM Modi was to have landed in the temple town this afternoon on a one-day visit.
Since early morning there were frantic efforts on to pump water out at the DLW ground, where PM Modi was scheduled to make a public address.
The PM's rally at the same venue had to be cancelled on June 28, because heavy rain had left the grounds waterlogged. This time, the BJP had said, better arrangements had been made.
Power Grid Corporation of India had been asked to erect a special waterproof pandal at the venue. Three special technicians were called in from New Delhi and a large number of workers had worked round the clock to prepare the venue for the PM's visit, Sanjay Bhardwaj, a BJP functionary, had said.
A special floor was made by first laying bricks and then covering them with plywood, he said, adding that water pumps had been installed to meet contingencies. Those water pumps were put to use this morning.
The venue had been prepared to seat 25,000 people.
The PM was to have announced several schemes in his constituency today.