BENGALURU: Keen to take a head start in Karnataka’s poll campaign and bring the party back to power in the forthcoming Assembly election, BJP National President Amit Shah is set to flag off the ‘Nava Karnataka Parivartana Yatra’ here on Thursday. On the occasion, Chennapatna MLA CP Yogeshwar and Kudachi MLA P Rajeev are set to join the BJP.
While Yogeshwar was elected from the Samajwadi Party in the last assembly election, Rajeev had won as a candidate of Badavara Shramikara Raithara Congress, launched by B Sriramulu.
About 2 lakh party workers from southern districts of the state are expected to participate in the yatra that would be launched after a massive rally at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) grounds on Tumakuru road on the city outskirts.
Party workers are set to arrive in a bike rally that would see about 1 lakh bikes converging in the city. The 75-day yatra will cover all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state and is scheduled to end with a mega rally to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru on January 28, BJP State President B S Yeddyurappa said here on Wednesday.
Failures of the Siddaramaiah government and achievements of the Modi government at the Centre and previous BJP regime in the state would be highlighted during the yatra.Apart from Shah and Yeddyurappa, Union minister and BJP poll in-charge of the state Prakash Javadekar, Union minister and associate in-charge of the state Piyush Goyal, Union ministers from Karnataka Ananth Kumar, D V Sadananda Gowda, Ramesh Jigajinagi, Leader of the Opposition in legislative assembly Jagadish Shettar, his council counterpart KS Eshwarappa are among the leaders who would attend the rally.
Yogi, Uma Bharti to raise the pitch
BJP is set to tap the charisma and popularity of its national leaders and hardcore Hindutva netas for the yatra with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath topping the list of those in high demand. Adityanath is expected to join Parivartan Yatra for a day and address a rally in Chikkamagaluru on December 30. Union minister Uma Bharti will address a rally in Belagavi on November 20 and her ministerial colleague Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti is set to address a rally in Yadgir on December 11. Among the senior Union ministers, Rajnath Singh will address a rally in Hubballi on December 21, Arun Jaitley in Mangaluru on November 11, Nitin Gadkari in Shivamogga on December 28.
Special Rath
A special luxury bus has been custom-built with all the amenities for the yatra that would take
B S Yeddyurappa and other senior leaders to every constituency in the state. The saffron coloured bus has a hydraulic-lift enabled rostrum that could accommodate 10-12 members. The rostrum that could move up would be used as a stage for the leaders to address impromptu public rallies on the go. It also has a mini-meeting hall, kitchen, toilet and is centrally air-conditioned.
7 kitchens to serve lunch
Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure a smooth start for the yatra. A 120ft X 80ft stage has been built and seating arrangements have been made for over 1.2 lakh people. Seven kitchens have been set up at the venue to serve lunch for those who arrive for the rally and arrangements have been made to distribute drinking water in sachets. More than 100 volunteers have been deployed to distribute food packets. Over 100 party volunteers have been deployed to assist the police in regulating traffic around the venue.
Security beefed up
Bengaluru Rural district police have made elaborate security arrangements in view of the rally. Bengaluru Rural SP Amit Singh said, “About 2,000 sub-inspectors, other higher rank officials, 1,000 police personnel, six platoons of KSRP and 300 Home Guards have been deployed in the area.”
Areas to be affected
Roads close to Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre
Tumakuru Road-Kempegowda International Airport
Nelamangala
Bengaluru-Pune National Highway