President to visit Odisha tomorrow

President Pranab Mukherjee’s two-day tour, starting September 6, includes his visit to the Jagannath temple in Puri and the convocation ceremonies of IIT Bhubaneswar and Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan (BVB) on September 7.

While the convocation of IIT-Bhubaneswar will be held on the campus of IMMT (Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology), the BVB has chosen the campus of XIMB (Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar) for its convocation.

This time, Mukherjee is scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar airport around 4.35 pm on September 6. Soon after, he would fly to Puri in a chopper and arrive there around 5.10 pm. He is scheduled to stay at Raj Bhavan in Puri and leave for Bhubaneswar the day after paying obeisance at Jagannath temple early in the morning. He would spend nearly 45 minutes inside the 12th century shrine from 7 am on September 7.

Mukherjee would leave Puri around 11.05 am and reach the venue of IIT-Bhubaneswar convocation around 11.55 am. As per his itinerary, he would leave IMMT at 1.15 pm and proceed towards Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar for lunch. He is scheduled to reach XIMB campus for BVB’s convocation at 5.00 pm where he will address the students till 6.15 pm. He is scheduled to fly back from the Biju Patnaik airport to Delhi at 6.30 pm.

The Odisha state government has asked the Jagannath temple administration not to allow too many people around President Pranab Mukherjee during his proposed visit to the 12th century shrine.

“We have asked both the institutions to make the best arrangements for the President’s visit. We are also guiding them what to do and what not,” said DCP Nitinjeet Singh. Police would take control over both the venues nearly 24 hours before the convocations start.

As many as 40 platoons of police force and 501 officers are likely to be assigned for security of the President in Bhubaneswar. Around 15 platoons of force and 50 officers would be garrisoned at Puri.