Shah may attend Ratha Chaitanya Yatre's last leg

The BJP has invited its national president Amit Shah to participate in the conclusion part of the first phase of its ‘Raitha Chaitanya Yatre’ scheduled to be held in Mysuru on September 13.

BJP State president Pralhad Joshi told reporters in Bengaluru that Shah had orally accepted the invitation and an official confirmation will be coming soon.

Raitha Chaitanya Yatre is a tour of rural areas taken up by the BJP leaders to instil confidence in farmers. There have been a spate of suicides by farmers due to financial distress and the prevailing drought in the State.

Two teams, one led by party national vice president B S Yeddyurappa and another by State BJP president Pralhad Joshi, are touring the State.

Joshi accused the government of failing in mitigating the drinking water shortage and in taking up drought relief works. He said the government should immediately take steps to waive the loans availed by the farmers and provide at least eight hours of power supply in rural areas failing which the BJP will launch a massive agitation.

Joshi also accused the government of misleading the people by stating that the Centre had not responded to its request for grants to take up relief works. The State had submitted its memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 24 and the Centre had responded by agreeing to send a Central team to visit the drought-hit areas.

The BJP chief also demanded that the government convene a special session of the State legislature to discuss the drought situation in the State.