UP: BJP to flag off Parivartan Yatra from Jhansi today

BJP President Amit Shah is all set to flag off its second Rath yatra from Jhansi on 6 November, a day after he kick-started the first parivarthan yatra from Saharanpur.

The yatra will pass through the entire Bundelkhand before entering Kannauj, Mainpuri, Jaswant Nagar, Badaun and Firozabad, all strongholds of leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a rally in Lucknow on the culmination of these yatras.

Senior party leaders including national president Amit Shah, central ministers Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Misra and Uma Bharti will address the yatras at various destinations, he said, adding that the raths will be equipped with all modern amenities.

Union Minister and Jhansi MP Uma Bharti, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and several other BJP leader will be present in Jhansi to start the Rath Yatra with the party president today.

According to reports, the entire town of Jhansi has been painted saffron with hoardings, banners and BJP flags on every nook and corner of the city.

Faced with tough competition from SP and BSP, both of which also led by formidable personalities, BJP is banking on its organisational machinery and its central leadership's might as the party is unlikely to name a chief ministerial face like its rivals.

With a strong section of Dalits strongly behind Mayawati and numerically strong Yadavs and a large chunk of Muslims supporting SP, BJP is working to make a social coalition of upper castes and other backward castes to pull off a victory in a state where it has been out of power for over 14 years.

--With Agency inputs