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BJP plans rath yatras demanding Vananchal

The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to take out rath yatras throughout Bihar to challenge what it termed as the ''jungle raj prevailing'' in the state and to mobilise support for the creation of a separate state of Vananchal.

Of the ten rath yatras, three would emerge from the proposed state of Vananchal -- one from Ullihatu, the native village of tribal leader Birsa Munda, and the other two from the villages of Sidhu Kanhu and Ramnarayan Singh.

The party, through these yatras, plans to mobilise the people against the alleged ''anarchy'' prevailing in Bihar and ''the attempt being made by the party in power to stall the creation of the new state.''

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting of the BJP leaders from the Vananchal area would be held in Ranchi today to review the party's political stand and prepare a foolproof strategy for the assembly polls. The meeting, likely to be attended by Union Minister of State for Forests and Environment Babu Lal Marandi and BJP national vice-president Kailash Pati Mishra, would also screen the probables for the elections. Besides, it will deliberate on the preparations regarding booth management down to the block level.

Resentment prevails in the party's Vananchal unit over the alleged interference of the state party bosses. A senior party leader, pleading anonymity, said any attempt by the state unit to ignore local leaders by attaching undue weightage to rank outsiders might prove suicidal during the coming polls.

UNI

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