BJP leaders in UP asked to collect soil from every village

Lucknow, Aug 14 (IANS) The BJP in Uttar Pradesh will depute its MPs, MLAs, MLCs and elected representatives up to the level of zila and gram panchayats to take part in the three-day ‘Amrit Kalash Yatra’ meant to collect soil from every village of the country and transport it to ‘Amrit Vatika’ near war memorial in New Delhi as part of 77th year of Independence.

The drive which will begin on August 27, is part of the ‘Meri Mati Mera Desh’ nationwide campaign initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate the "achievements of the nation and its brave hearts".

BJP sources said that the people’s representatives have been asked to camp in their respective districts/constituencies and supervise the 'kalash yatra’ which is proposed to touch a maximum number of villages, especially those home to martyrs.

Through this the BJP seeks to connect with the maximum number of people as part of its poll preparations in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak said: “The idea of the campaign is to touch each and every section of society and pool in its contribution for a nationalistic cause. It is all about ‘janbhagidari’ (people’s participation) and getting connected with people. The party seeks to celebrate the achievements of the nation and its brave hearts.”

This would be the second big public participation campaign initiated by the BJP after the one for construction of the grand statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the banks of Narmada in Kevadia, Gujarat.

It was in 2013 -- less than a year before 2014 Lok Sabha elections -- when Modi, then as Gujarat Chief Minister, wrote to more than 1.8 crore sarpanches to send soil and iron agriculture equipment for being used in construction of 182-metre-tall statue of Patel.

By 2016, a total of 135 metric tonnes of scrap iron had been collected and about 109 tonnes of it was used to make the foundation of the statue after processing it.

Earlier in 2021, the VHP and RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, had carried out a 45-day-long nationwide Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan campaign, the fundraising drive for the construction of Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir.

The campaign, which was kickstarted on Makar Sankranti, saw a fund collection of nearly Rs 2,100 crore.

“Such campaigns often turn out to be unforgettable, astonishing and heart-warming,” said a senior BJP leader.