Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled a visit to his constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for the second time in recent weeks due to heavy rains. Modi had to land in the temple-town this afternoon on a day-long visit.
There were frantic efforts to pump out water from DLW ground since early morning, where the PM was scheduled to make a public address.
On June 28, a PM rally at the same venue had to be cancelled because the grounds had been left waterlogged due to heavy rain. This time, the BJP had even said that better arrangements had been made.
The Power Grid Corporation of India had been given the task of constructing a special water-proof pandal at the venue. A large number of workers supervised by three technicians from New Delhi had worked round the clock to prepare the venue, Sanjay Bhardwaj, a BJP functionary said.
Bhardwaj said that a special floor was made by first laying bricks and then covering them with plywood, adding that water pumps had been installed to meet contingencies.
Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal however had a different version on the cancellation saying it was done because a labourer working at the rally site had died in an unfortunate accident.
The PM was to announce several schemes at the venue in Varanasi today, which was prepared to seat 25,000 people.