Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Mahendra Nath Pandey along with Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma and other senior party leaders participated in the Kamal Sandesh bike rally across the state to spread awareness among the people about the achievements of the BJP governments at the Centre and in UP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The top BJP leaders flagged off the rally at different cities in the state.
The campaign, aimed at the 2019 parliamentary polls, was held at all the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagging it off in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya joined the Kamal Sandesh bike rally at Prayagraj (Allahabad) and his colleague Dinesh Sharma in Lucknow.
BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey was in his own Lok Sabha constituency, Chandauli, while BJP state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal led the bike rally in Kannauj, the stronghold of Samajwadi Party.
BJP state general secretary and MLA Pankaj Singh, son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, led the bike rally in Gorakhpur, the native place of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma was in Noida while BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak was in Moradabad.
In Lucknow, the BJP workers from different polling booths gathered at Jhulelal Vatika for the motorcycle rally.
The rally started from Jhulelal Park where Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma flagged it off in the presence of UP ministers Brijesh Pathak, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Ashutosh Tandon and Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia. The rally went up to 1090 roundabout near Gomti.
BJP Lucknow Mahanagar (City) unit president Mukesh Sharma rode a motorcycle, with the Deputy Chief Minister on the pillion.
"In the past four-and-half years, the developmental works done by the Prime Minister have been exemplary. The opposition is indulging in negative politics. It cannot speak on development. The Centre has worked extensively to improve the condition of farmers," Sharma told reporters here.
When asked to comment on the prices of petrol and diesel, he said, "The current prices of petrol and diesel are lesser than those prevailing during the Congress rule."
Brijesh Pathak, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Ashutosh Tandon and Sanyukta Bhatia along with several other BJP MLAs participated in the bike rally. Joshi said BJP workers had worked hard to spread awareness about the schemes of both Central and state governments.
"They have also helped people to ensure that their names are mentioned correctly in voters' list. This is a display of enthusiasm among the party workers. I am confident that in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will make a clean sweep," she said.
A mishap was averted and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma had a narrow escape during the launch of the Kamal Sandesh bike yatra as the dais collapsed. There was commotion as the dais collapsed but no one was injured in the incident.
The BJP leadership had directed the cadres and leaders to get at least five motorcyclists from each polling booth in UP. All the party leaders, including parliamentarians, legislators and office bearers were also directed to ensure their participation in the rallies in their respective regions.
The BJP leaders highlighted flagship schemes like crop loan waiver, Ujjwala, Saubhagya, Swachh Bharat Mission etc. among the people.