Lobbying begins for Yoga with PM Modi at Palace

Yoga shalas, educational institutions, resident associations vie for a place

By M.T. Yogesh Kumar

Mysore/Mysuru: Everyone wants to be at the Mysore Palace on June 21 to stretch and bend with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will lead the mass Yoga performance of 2022. And lobbying for a place in the Palace has already begun. 

First, it was announced that over 12,000 people will be inside the Palace campus. Later it was changed to 15,000 as the authorities are in a fix or are under pressure to include many who are seeking representation. 

The final call will be taken by the AYUSH Ministry, AYUSH Department in Mysuru in coordination with the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga. Sources told Star of Mysore that the registrations for the June 21 event will be open through Google Forms in a day or two.

Thanks to the increasing number of Yoga enthusiasts in Mysuru and the tempo that has seen steady growth over the last eight years, the demand to hobnob with the PM and other VVIPS has also increased. The demand increases in the coming days as the D-Day approaches.

While the administration is sprucing the Palace campus and surrounding areas and also keeping alternate venues ready in case of rains, they are also awaiting response from the AYUSH Ministry and Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga who will take a final call on the number of participants based on the directives obtained from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Special Protection Group (SPG).

In the meantime, the scramble to get into the list of participants at the Palace has already begun and each institution — be it schools and colleges, Yoga training institutes or resident welfare associations — is seeking representation at the venue that will be a high-security zone.

Yoga Federation of Mysore President and GSS Foundation Head D. Srihari said that the Federation has over 250 members including Yoga institutes and schools and there are over 100 individual teachers. Overall, there are more than 3,000 Yoga teachers and students from Yoga schools and institutes in Mysuru that come under the Federation. And there are schools and colleges numbering over 400 to 500.

“Even if you take 10 participants from a school or a college, the number will touch 5,000. In addition, there are NCC, NSS and Scouts and Guides, associations and healthcare organisations and they all will seek representation in the Palace to be in the vicinity of the PM’s performance. Also, the administration has asked the Federation to give a list of expert trainers who can train others for June 21 and the list will be ready in another two or three days,” he added.

After confirmation of Modi’s Yoga Day visit, many resident welfare associations have decided to seek representation in the event. The Lopamudra Kodava Sangha in Vijayanagar First Stage gave a call to all its members to attend the rehearsal at Palace on June 5 (today) which was the first rehearsal as per the Yoga protocol to be followed on June 21. The Sangha has plans to attend the main Yoga Day celebrations in ‘full strength’. Along with the Vijayanagar Association, many other resident welfare associations too have sent out a communication to their members to show up at rehearsals so that they can get a chance to perform on June 21.

Idea of shifting to Race Course

The stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry had approached Union Minister Pralhad Joshi urging him to change the venue from the Mysore Palace to the Mysore Race Course so that at least one lakh Yoga enthusiasts could perform.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru (FOAM) President B.S. Prashanth said that they had suggested shifting the venue to the Race Course as many would love to do Yoga with PM Modi. “It is a dream to perform Yoga with the PM. Since it is a 75th Independence year, it made more sense to keep a crowd of 75,000 inside the Race Course,” he said.

But the FOAM proposal was not accepted as the Special Protection Group will have to clear the proposal and it would be impossible to frisk 75,000 people within a set time.