Former soldiers hope to impress BJP's 'General' Narendra Modi

CHANDIGARH: BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will get an essence of the olive green (OG) during the rally of ex-servicemen to be addressed by him on Sunday in Rewari.
A team of 25 former lieutenant generals and major generals will receive Modi after he arrives at the venue, Rao Tula Ram Sthal. The venue has been covered with a special tent spread over four lakh square feet, which can accommodate nearly three lakh persons.
Former Army chief Gen (retd) V K Singh, former Uttrakhand chief minister Maj Gen (retd) B C Khanduri, war widow and former MP Sudha Yadav and around 1,000 former colonels, lt colonels and commandants of para military forces will be attending the rally, being held to pay tribute to freedom fighters, specially those from Ahirwal area.
Around 1.50 lakh ex-servicemen, including NCOs and former officials of paramilitary forces, have been requested to wear their official caps and medals during the rally.
"A pipe band featuring ex-servicemen will take Modi ji to the venue. Their special skills will be on display during the occasion as most of them have participated in the President's retreat. So far as Modi ji is concerned, since this will be his first rally after his projection as the party's candidate for PM post, he will be mainly focusing on national issues like national security and food security, while highlighting the failure of the UPA government," said Captain Abhimanyu Singh, chief organiser of the rally.
Capt Abhimanyu said they had personally distributed close to 1.50 invitation cards to ex-servicemen across Haryana. "Our women cell volunteers also visited the war widows requesting them to attend the event," he added.
The venue is three kms away from the parking area, so the organisers have hired 250 auto-rickshaws to bring participants to the spot.
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) media coordinator Yashveer Raghav said that the event is dedicated to freedom fighters and ex-servicemen. As such, the two gates of the venue were named after Rao Tula Ram, the Ahirwal leader who took part in the revolt against the British in 1857, and Colonel Hoshiyar Singh, the only Paramvir Chakra awardee from Haryana.