'Bharat Suraksha Yatra mass awakening campaign'

Shimla, Apr 27: President of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the BJP, Suresh Bhardwaj, termed former Deputy Prim L K Advani's and party president Rajnath Singh's ''Bharat Suraksha Yatra'' from April six to May 10 a nation-wide mass awakening campaign.

Observing that the people of the country had rejected the ''road shows'' of the ruling Congress, he yesterday said the party had converted the yatra into a mass awakening campaign so as to effectively take their issues to the people.

''Mr Advani's Ram Rath Yatra for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in 1990, the 1996 Suraj Yatra, the 1997 Swaran Jayanti Yatra and the 2004 Bharat Udaye Yatra had also been historic in that sense,'' he said in a party release here.

Mr Bhardwaj said beginning and the concluding dates of the Yatra were significant as April six was observed as Ram Naumi, the birth of Lord Rama, while on May 10, the day the Yatra concludes, the first war of independence began on this day 150 years ago.

The Yatra was being held at a time, when the country was passing through a difficult phase with terrorism within and from across the border raising its head, he said.

He said the Yatra would also help the party effectively raise the issue of rising prices of essential commodities in the state.

UNI