BJP to flag off election campaign in Uttarakhand with Aashirward Yatra today

BJP district general secretary Vikas Tiwari told Hindustan Times on August 5 that the Aashirward yatra is meant to be a morale-boosting exercise for party workers ahead of the polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to begin campaigning in Uttarakhand with a two-day Aashirwad Yatra on Tuesday for the 2021 assembly elections. The newly appointed Union minister of state for tourism and defence Ajay Bhatt will launch the BJP's poll campaign from the Narsain border in Haridwar district, and travel to five districts for the same.

BJP leaders have been embarking on ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ in states across India to publicise the Centre’s schemes

The yatra will pass through Manglaur, Roorkee, Bhagwanpur, Mohand and Dath Kali Mandir before reaching the party headquarters in Dehradun. The yatra will be covering Rishikesh, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital before concluding in Almora on August 18. BJP leaders will also pay a visit to the shrines of Shri Dakshin Kali and the Shiv temple at Shayampur in Haridwar.

BJP district general secretary Vikas Tiwari told Hindustan Times on August 5 that the yatra is meant to be a morale-boosting exercise for party workers ahead of the polls, as they will be spreading information about various policies of the government. “Party workers are gearing up for the yatra. Throughout the route, a grand welcome will be given to the yatra at major points. It will surely boost the morale of party workers and we will disseminate policies and achievements of the BJP government among people seeking their support again,” said Tiwari.

BJP leaders have been embarking on ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ in states across India to publicise the Centre’s schemes. "Ministers have been asked to educate people about the work done by the government. They have been asked to interact with all sections of society and connect them with the government's schemes," organisation minister of Telangana G Parmendra Reddy told ANI.

Meanwhile, Congress has appointed former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat as the head of the campaign committee for next year’s polls. Congress hit out at BJP for indulging in electoral events instead of preparing for the probable third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuring mass vaccination.

“The BJP should first answer why it failed to properly manage the second wave of Covid-19. Now it seems again to be focusing on party electoral events rather than on improving infrastructure to counter the third wave and ensure mass vaccination. Just seven months before the election, they are now seeking blessings but in fact, it is Congress towards whom the voters are inclined now,” the party’s state vice president Dhirendra Pratap told Hindustan Times.