Prior to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK, the Indian community and its friends in Britain, have already started the grand preparations. As part of publicising the initiative ‘UKWelcomesModi’, a fleet of thirty ‘Modi Express’ buses were launched this Saturday, the 10th of October. The bus will have a month-long tour around iconic landmarks in central London and will also visit various community organisations across the UK. The first stop was Ealing Road, Wembley – dubbed as ‘Little India’, followed by Trafalgar Square to celebrate Diwali in London.
Lord Dolar Popat, who helped inaugurate the bus during a traditional coconut-breaking ceremony, said, “This bus launch is yet another example of the UK and India bringing people together for a positive cause. As we look forward to Prime Minister Modi’s visit in November, I’m elated to see members from across the two communities coming together and supporting one another.”
Also gracing the occasion was Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, who encouraged people to join him on the Modi Express bus from Leicester saying, “Even if you’ve left your oyster cards at home, be sure to bring your ‘Modi cards’ to join the Modi Express wherever you are.” Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, the London Borough where Wembley Stadium is situated, said "I am looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi to Brent. There is huge excitement amongst all communities."
The civic leaders who attended and spoke at the event included Navin Shah AM, member of the London Assembly, Krupa Sheth, the youngest British Indian councillor in the UK and Cllr Krupesh Hirani.
Over 60,000 people will attend the reception, called UK Welcomes Modi (on 13th of November), and tickets are due to be distributed by Wembley Stadium in the coming weeks. People from over 250 cities and towns in the UK have applied for an invitation. They have applied from as far north as Dundee and as far south as Plymouth.
Nitin Palan, coordinator of the Modi Express bus declared, “Our website will be going live next week. People will be able to book Modi Express bus tickets to attend the event from all over the country.”
Mayuri Parmar from the organising committee spoke about inspiration from Modi’s nationwide popular campaign ‘Chai pe Charcha’. They hope to encourage ‘Bus pe Charcha’ to evoke discussions and opinions during the visit of the Indian PM.
The buses are a beautiful shade of blue with branding images of the PM along with flag images and social media hashtags. The tag ‘#UKWelcomesModi’ is a signifier of how inclusive, popular and rigorous this branding exercise is.
