Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be visiting the United States at the end of this month, is set to make a speech at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on 28 September, considered among the most famous venues in the world
Thousands of applications have reportedly poured in for participation in the historic event, forcing the organizers, the Indian American Community Foundation, to adopt a lottery system to decide who would get to attend the public reception of Modi, India Today reported.
The organizers had received about 20,000 applications from people across US, from as far as Alaska and Hawaii, till Monday night, according to the report.
For those still looking to book their place for the event, you can visit the website http://www.pmvisit.org/
7 September is the last day for online application for general admission. According to the website, tickets for the event are FREE, but due to a limited seating of about 20,000, only luck could ensure you a coveted seat.
After receiving applications, the organizers will conduct a lottery system. 'A random number lottery will be conducted to assign tickets to everyone registered', the organizers have stated on the website.
"Given Modi's popularity, even a stadium of the size of 60,000 to 70,000 would have been smaller. We tried our best to get the two stadiums in New York, New Jersey area, but they were booked. The Madison Square Garden is the largest venue that we can get for this day," an oganiser told India Today.
NRIs based in the US are enthusiastic about attending Modi's community reception at Madison Square Garden.
"I was not there when Swami Vivekananda spoke in Chicago in 1893. I do not want to miss when another Narendra is about to deliver a historic speech in New York," Anju Preet, a scientist at the Georgetown University in Washington, told India Today.
This will be Narendra Modi's first visit to the United States after he became the Prime Minister in May this year, and is expected to end once and for all the hostilities shared by US when they had refused a visa to him in 2005 due to his alleged involvement in the Gujarat riots.
He was also expected to address the joint session of the United States Congress during this visit, but it has been called off due to schedule issues.
