Keeping a hawk eye on pulling off the BJP’s third consecutive victory in Assembly polls, Chief Minister Raman Singh will roll out his 2,700-km long ‘Vikas Yatra’ from May 6 as the State goes to polls later this year.
The blueprint for the six-phased yatra was drafted and approved at a key meeting at the State BJP headquarters here on Wednesday which was attended by senior party leaders, including State president
Ram Sewak Paikra and Ramesh Bais, the party’s lok Sabha MP from Raipur seat.
“Raman Singh will embark on a 2700-km long journey on May 6 from Dantewada with prayers at Maa Danteshwari temple; the journey which will cover 81 out of the total 90 Assembly seats will conclude
on June 15 in tribal heartland Surguja,” Shivratan Sharma, the BJP's State general secretary
told newsmen.
Chief Minister’s close aide and Industry Minister Rajesh Munat has been appointed as coordinator of the yatra, while party leader Subhash Rao will be the co-coordinator.
The ayurvedic doctor-turned 60-year politician Singh who is heading the saffron government in the insurgency-hit State since December 7, 2003, will mostly cover the ‘Vikas yatra’ by road, except use of chopper on a few occasions mainly in remote and
jungle pockets.
The party has alerted its all the 27 district units as well as block chiefs, district presidents, MlAs and MPs to put in all efforts and resources to make the yatra a grand success and set a tone for BJP's hat-trick in the State that has 2.55 crore population with 32 per cent tribals.
BJP sources claimed that Raman Singh would make announcements of a series of development works and welfare wherever he visits during the yatra and would also brief people about the development works being carried out by his Government for welfare of the people during his two stints.
Meanwhile, the Congress which was voted out in November 2003 Assembly polls, will be taking out the ‘Parivartan yatra’ from April 12 with a thrust to expose alleged corruption and mis-governance of the BJP regime. The yatra will conclude on May 27 in Raipur and the party has planned to have at least one public rally in all the 90 Assembly
segments during the yatra period to prepare people for end of the long BJP regime.