Chief Minister Harish Rawat flagged off the Jan Shubhashish Yatra from Har-ki-Pauri on Monday in the presence of the AICC general secretary Ambika Soni who is also the party’s state in-charge. Organisers of the initiative -- envisaged as a response to the Bharatiya Janata Party's Parivartan Yatra-- focused their effort on making 'change' the main theme. Through the Jan Shubhashish Yatra, the ruling party would "seek blessings of the people across the state". In addition to seeking 'blessing' of the voters, the party workers would also seek suggestions from them on how to improve the quality of the state government’s functioning. The suggestions might even be incorporated in the party’s election manifesto, party sources say.
Addressing the gathering, CM Harish Rawat said, “The march has started from Har Ki Pauri, a holy place blessed by Mother Ganga. I want blessing of the people to give a befitting reply to those in Delhi who ousted me from office. However, I and the State Government managed to overcome the detrimental machinations,” he said while appearing to make an emotional appeal to the people.
Hitting out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, All Indian Congress Committee general secretary and Uttarakhand party in charge, Ambika Soni said the demonetisation move is set to wipe out the poor instead of black money and terrorism as claimed by the PM. “The rally is meant to seek the blessing of Mother Ganga so that Congress returns to power to complete its unfinished agenda of development,” she averred.
A public meeting was also held at Daulatpur and finally the rally reached Piran Kaliyar where Rawat offered a ‘Chadar’ at Kaliyar Sharif.
Among others who participated in the rally which passed through Chandracharya Chowk, Shivaliknagar, Bahadrabad, Dhanori and Kaliyar were the party's state co in charge Sanjay Kapoor and the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay among others.