Adityanath to visit Noida today

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will visit the millenium city today to check security and other arrangements ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here on December 25.The prime minister would inaugurate the Noida-Kalkaji Metro line during his visit.

There is a superstition that any chief minister visiting Noida loses power and does not come back to assume the office again.Adityanath would reach Noida in the afternoon and after inspecting various sites would visit the public rally site, officials said.

He would hold meetings with district officials and seek details of the progress of development works in the city. He would also meet BJP workers and address them, they said.

Around 1,300 police and paramilitary personnels have been deployed for Adityanath's security during his visit. Over 5,000 police and paramilitary personnels would be deployed for Modi's visit on Monday.

Principal Secretary (Industrial Development) Alok Sinha, ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar are stationed here and are supervising the security arrangements. The SPG would take over the programme sites and a multi-layered security arrangement was in place.

Traffic police has advised commuters to avoid the Botanical Garden to Okhla Barrage road this afternoon. Traffic would be blocked during the movement of Aditynath's cavalcade from Helipad to Okhla Birds Sanctuary and



then till Amity University campus.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders were visiting villages and other areas to appeal to them to attend the prime minister's public rally a success.Though Noida or Gautam Budh Nagar district was developed from a cluster of small villages into the prime economic zone of the state, it has been avoided by past chief ministers.

The superstition began with then chief minister Veer Bahadur Singh, who was asked to step down in June 1988 by the central leadership. Interestingly, he had just returned from Noida, when he was asked to relinquish office.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati braved the superstition during her term as chief minister (2007-12) and attended programmes organised by the state government in Noida.

Adityanath's predecessor Akhilesh Yadav stayed away from Noida.

He did not attend the Asian Development Bank Summit organised there in May 2013 though then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the chief guest.

Akhilesh Yadav had launched the Rs 3,300 crore development projects, including access to six-lane Yamuna Expressway, through video link from Lucknow.

The family members of Dadri lynching victim Mohammad Ikhlaq were brought to Lucknow from there to meet Akhilesh Yadav.Before him, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh too avoided going to Noida.