Congress will trail chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ with its ‘Pol Khol Yatra’ from July 18. As part of their ‘Pol Khol Yatra’, the Congress leaders will reach wherever the CM goes to tell people how the BJP government headed by Chouhan has betrayed them all these years.
With an aim to retain power the fourth time, Chouhan will lead a ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ from Ujjain from July 14 to seek blessings of common people. He is expected to cover all the 230 assembly constituencies in different phases in the next two months. The CM’s ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ is expected to end in Bhopal on September 25.
However, Congress is planning to “expose” how the state government has miserably failed in delivering the goods on governance front and how it is responsible for various malaises the state is plagued with.
Congress will also begin its yatra from Ujjain. State Congress media in-charge Manak Agarwal said state Congress president Kamal Nath will flag off the party’s ‘Pol Khol Yatra’ on July 18 at Tarana town in Ujjain district.
According to state BJP vice president Vijesh Lunawat, BJP national president Amit Shah will flag off the BJP’s Jan Ashirvad Yatra at Ujjain on July 14.
As per party sources, all the BJP leaders will perform a pooja at Mahakal temple before the yatra begins. The day has been chosen for the yatra as an auspicious one as Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri will also begin on the same day.
Chouhan had taken out ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ ahead of 2013 and 2008 assembly elections as well.
The BJP party leadership believes that the yatra helps the CM strengthen his bond with committed voters of the party.
According to them, the yatra also has a positive impact on the mind of fence sitters as they get drawn towards the party on seeing the crowd cheering when Chouhan appears on a rath, motivate the party workers to take on the Congress, discourage the disgruntled elements within the BJP, placate the section of voters annoyed with the government because of some reason or the other and most importantly, get feedback on performance of the party’s sitting legislators from people, which helps the party change or retain the candidate.
Agarwal said public meetings would be held at those places to be visited by Chouhan and party leaders would tell people how the government in general and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in particular, had betrayed them all these years.
Corruption was rampant in the government. Vyapam scam was a glaring example which was one of the biggest scams in the country.
Reacting to the Congress’ plan state BJP vice-president Vijesh Lunawat said, “The Congress’ ‘Pol Khol Yatra’ would in fact expose the groupism and lobbyism in the party and how the Congress leaders were fighting with one another to be projected as the CM face of the party ahead of the elections.”
He said the state Congress president Kamal Nath had no trust in the party leaders’ loyalty towards the part, that’s why he recently made them to take oath that they would follow the Congress’ principles.
Earlier, BJP state unit president Rakesh Singh, responding to a question about anti-incumbency factor affecting BJP’s prospects of winning in the upcoming assembly elections, said that there is no such antigovernment wave in the state. He added that the party workers are happy with the party.
Source: HindustanTimes