In a bid to strengthen party’s base and begin preparation for 2019 elections the AJSU party has planned ‘Swaraj Swabhiman Yatra’ beginning from October 2 in the State. Party chief Sudesh Mahto will start the March from Mandu block in Hazaribagh and will cover 11 blocks, 55 panchyats and 200 villages in 11 days in the first phase starting from the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
While the first phase of the Yatra will conclude at Tundi in Dhanbad district, the AJSU party supremo will interact with one lakh people in 11 days. During the whole Yatra he is planning to cross 300 blocks and 5000 villages, interacting with 25 lakh people to cover a distance of 2000 kms on foot.
AJSU party spokesperson Dr Devsharan Bhagat said that the party president will interact with people and try to find out what intensity of ‘Swaraj’ that has been though about by Mahatma Gandhi, has been realized in the rural Jharkhand. Sudesh will also try to find out local issues and strengthen socio-political ties with them, he added.
During the Yatra the AJSU party president will directly talk to panchayat members, labour organization representatives, gram pradhans, women self help groups and intellectuals. He will also discuss with people about the self-governance system and its effectiveness in the State. Bhagat quoted Mahto saying that the Yatra will be a means to find out status of local self governance in Jharkhand after 18 years of its creation.
The AJSU chief will spend nights in villages during the Yatra and will stay in the houses of Jharkhand movement champions, freedom fighters and those who have contributed significantly in making and empowering the State. Cultural programmes will also be organized in Akhras and Chaupals in the evening to bring out the cultural legacy and traditions of the State to fore.
Bhagat said that during the Yatra those issues will be evaluated which are imposed or moulded according to time and occasion. The party will tell people during the yatra that politics is not only winning elections. He quoted Mahto as saying that it is utmost important to understand the voices of students, farmers and labourers in the contemporary Jharkhand.