BJP to launch four-day Jan Swaraj Yatra in K’taka from November 18

PTI, Nov 10, 2021, 7:59 AM IST

Bengaluru: The BJP will launch a four-day ‘Jan Swaraj Yatra’ across Karnataka from November 18 with an eye on winning the coming taluk panchayat and district panchayat elections, the party’s state spokesperson Ganesh Karnik said here on Tuesday.

“We are launching ‘Jan Swaraj Yatra’ for four days from November 18. Four teams will travel across the four corners of the state for four days with a focus on winning the Taluk and district Panchayat elections,” he said.

Karnik was briefing reporters on the BJP state office bearers meeting on Tuesday.

BJP national general secretaries Arun Singh, B L Santhosh and C T Ravi, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Karnataka BJP state general secretary Arun Kumar (organisation), Karnataka ministers, legislators and other state level office bearers attended the event, he added.

Karnik said the objective of the ‘Yatra’ was to strengthen the party organisation at the booth level.

Apart from it, the BJP leaders also discussed the strategies to win the MLC elections for 25 seats in December 10 and two seats in June next year. Deliberations were also held on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections, Karnik said.

The BJP spokesperson added that the outcome of the bypoll results were also discussed in the meeting.

While the BJP won Sindgi, it lost Hangal in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s home district Haveri to Congress.

Karnik said the Hangal elections had always been tough for all the political parties as the victory margin was never high.

A decision was also taken to hold the state executive committee meeting on December 18 and 19 at Hubballi, he said.

The leaders also expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the achievement of crossing over a billion COVID-19 vaccinations in the country.

They also thanked Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for bringing down the petrol and diesel prices substantially in the state, Karnik said.

To a query on the Congress starting a yatra from Mekedatu to Bengaluru to expedite taking up the balancing reservoir project across Cauvery in Mekedatu in Kanakapura district, Karnik said Congress is free to carry out its own yatra.

He, however, wondered why the party did not start the project when it was in power for five years from 2014 to 2019.