Rajnath Singh to launch BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' in Bihar

Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh will launch the party's 'Parivartan Yatra' on August 12 from Sonepur ahead of the coming Bihar assembly polls, a party leader said on Monday.

State BJP president Mangal Pandey said Rajnath Singh will launch the first phase of the yatra on Wednesday from Sonepur in Saran district, about 50 km from here. "It will be the first phase of the Parivartan Yatra, followed by second and third phase," Pandey said.

Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari would launch the two other phases of the yatra.

Pandey told the media that the BJP would speed up its campaign following good public response to the two rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Muzaffarpur and Gaya.

"The BJP has to reach out to every nook and corner across the state," he said. Last month, BJP president Amit Shah launched the party's high-tech 'Parivartan Rath' campaign. Shah flagged off 160 GPS-fitted raths (chariots) to reach out to people in all villages across the state.

The party plans to hold 100,000 meetings in 100 days ahead of the assembly elections.

The BJP president, known for his poll management and innovative strategy to counter rivals, has named the high-tech chariots 'Parivartan Raths' to send out a political message that "people in all 243 Bihar assembly seats want change".

"The BJP's focus is clearly to mobilise people for a change in Bihar and to free them from the 'jungle raj' of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who joined hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad," the state BJP leader said.

Leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said the state's people were fed up with Nitish Kumar's bad governance and deteriorating law and order.