Having embarked upon an extensive exercise to contribute its mite to the construction of the 182-meter statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat, the Maharashtra BJP unit plans to hand over 41,095 kilograms of iron collected from as many villages across the state, to the trust set up to undertake the construction of the "Statue of Unity", on December 25.
Talking to mediapersons here, former State BJP president and senior legislator Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the party’s workers would reach out 41, 095 villages in the state and collect one kilogram each from the people there and the iron thus iron thus collected would be handed over to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) on December 25, birthday of former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.
“We are reaching out to 40, 000-odd villages in Maharashtra to collect iron from farmers and other hard laborers. Our intent is to collect a minimum of 1 kg of iron from all these villages,” Mungantiar said.
Mungantiwar said that the state BJP unit had chalked several events and programmes, including a marathon in Mumbai, ahead of Gujarat Chief Minister and party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s public rally in Mumbai on December 22.
“As part of the iron collection drive, we are reaching out to people in rural areas of the state. In our effort to involve the urban populace in the ambitious 'Statue of Unity' construction project, we plan to launch a signature campaign in the state,” Mungantiwar said.
Through the “Suraaj petition” campaign, the BJP would enlist the support of people in the urban areas of the state in pitching for the need of good governance in the nation.
“We expect around 2 crore signatures during our campaign in Mumbai alone. Also, we have invited NGOs, activist groups, business forums and leaders to be part of our committees for the programme,” Mungantiwar said.