Indian Americans have been queuing up to buy the tickets for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at Madison Square Garden on September 28, which will be one of the highlights of his five-day bilateral visit to US.
Organizers say that due to the tremendous demand for tickets they had to restrict almost 450 associations that became ‘welcoming partners’.
“We had tremendous demands for the tickets, we knew this will be overwhelming and it is still continuing. We have to restrict almost 450 associations from the country that became welcoming partners. Almost 15,000 free tickets have been distributed through the associations as well as individuals by lottery,” said Bharat Barai, president of the Indian-American Community Foundation and chief organiser of the Madison Square Garden event
Barai added that almost 200 community members and almost 800-1,000 volunteers have worked hard for the event’s success.
“On 28th September in the morning, people will start arriving here at 8.30 or so because we have to move around 18,000 people through security and it will be airport grade security, because there are also going to be 40-50 Congressmen and senators,” said Barai.
“There will be a cultural program which will start at 10 in the morning. There will be a different programme starting at around 11 in the morning. The Congressmen and Senators will arrive here and will have a private meeting in a separate area with the PM,” he added.
Asked about the unprecedented level of enthusiasm for the Prime Minister’s visit, Barai said, “Most Indian Americans perceive this Prime Minister to be a very progressive one, who has put people first. He has vision, he has mission and he wants to deliver for the benefit of the people.”
“In a country where there has been lot of corruption, lot of nepotism and lot of permit quota control; this is breath of fresh air,” he added.
Barai also described the Madison Square Garden as a very technologically advanced venue.
“The seats are beautiful, the arena arrangement inside is very beautiful and it accommodates almost 20,000 people,” he added.
