In the presence of nearly one lakh people, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Thursday set out on a more than three-month-long mass contact programme to bring back the BJP to power in the desert State.
Flagged off by BJP chief Rajnath Singh from a sacred Hindu temple here, Raje’s Suraj Sankalp Yatra will cover the length and breadth of Rajasthan in different phases. In the first leg of the yatra, Raje will ride on a specially designed rath to travel 1,380 km covering 28 constituencies in Rajsamand, Dungarpur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh and Udaipur districts of the Mewar region.
The BJP had won 26 of the total 28 seats from this region in 2003. But in 2008, it was reversal as the party got only two seats, whereas the Congress won 26 seats.
The yatra, slated to go on till July 21, will cover 200 places and include 35 public meetings. Raje had set out on a similar Parivartan Yatra in 2003, resulting into a sweeping victory for the BJP. Raje’s State-wide tour — a decade after her first similar exercise in 2003 — comes shortly after her appointment as Rajasthan BJP chief, setting aside the objections by a powerful faction of the State unit.
Hit by rebellion and internal sabotage, Raje had lost to Ashok Gehlot by a narrow margin in the 2008 poll for the 200 strong State Assembly. Congress’ tally of 96 was just 18 ahead of BJP’s figure of 78.
Excited with the huge turnout at the flag-off ceremony, Raje vowed to bring the BJP back to power in Rajasthan. Singh appealed to the people to end the misrule of both the Manmohan Singh Government at the Centre and the Ashok Gehlot Government in Rajasthan.
Singh’s speech was interrupted with pro-Narendra Modi slogans from certain quarters. The BJP chief asked workers to exercise restraints. He said the party has carefully decided to project Raje as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, as she could not only ensure the party’s victory, but would be able give Suraj( good governance) to the seven crore people of the State.
Ahead of the Assembly elections, this was the party’s biggest show of strength. According to Raje and Gulab Chand Kataria, party’s leader in the Assembly, the turnout at the venue had surpassed their estimates.
“This shows the people’s determination to throw the Gehlot-led Congress Government and bring back the BJP, whose previous Government provided an efficient and sensitive administration with a sole aim to take the State on fast development mode,” Raje said.
All the party MlAs, elected members of Panchayati Raj Institutions, local bodies and district party office-bearers were present at the mega event .
“We had estimated a crowd of about one lakh and made arrangements accordingly. But overwhelming response has shattered all our arrangements,” said Kataria, who is in-charge of 13-day first leg of the yatra in Mewar and Bagad.
Before starting her yatra, Raje and Rajnath offered Arti at the Charbhujanath temple. At Gangaur, venue of the first meeting, she took the blessings from a large number of Hindu religious heads of the area. A Maulvi and priests from Sikh and Christian community were present on the stage to make it communally harmonious affair.
Rajnath Singh said all the BJP-ruled State Governments are doing better work than the Congress and other party-ruled States. This fact has not only been recognised by the Centre, but also by the international agencies.
He said that during the previous BJP Government in Rajasthan a total 24,000-km road was constructed whereas during the Gehlot regime the figure is only 5,000 km. “This shows the poor performance of this Government,” he said.
Raje said that during the five-year rule of the BJP, Rajasthan came out of the BIMARU State status and touched new heights in the development field. She said that the Congress Government purposely shelved many welfare schemes of the BJP Government.
Raje expressed confidence that the BJP is set to come back to power. “Our Government would create a new Rajasthan to take the State on other level of all round development,” she said.