After invoking the blessings of Lord Jagannath at Puri, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Thursday began his 35-day, 5500-km Bharat Suraksha Yatra with a pledge to foil the 'appeasement' of Muslims by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.

BJP president's yatra stalled

"Only for getting their votes, the Congress-led UPA government is offering the Muslims new reservations in jobs and education. We will not allow their politics of appeasement to succeed," he said, drawing attention of the people to the 'spectre of terrorism looming large over the country.'

Addressing a rally, he told the people who had gathered in fairly good numbers braving the scorching heat that the purpose of the yatra was to create awareness in the minds of the people about the 'designs' of the Congress and warn the UPA that if it did not mend its ways, it should be ready to face the consequences in the next elections.

Blog: On the road with the Yatra

Charging the UPA government with being soft towards terrorists, Singh posed, "Is this not for the sake of vote bank politics? What is it for?"

Referring to the arrest of some persons having links with Bangladesh in connection with the Varanasi bomb blasts, he asserted that Bangladeshi infiltration in Assam was a matter of serious concern and said the Supreme Court had observed that the state was facing external aggression and internal disturbance on account of large-scale illegal migration from that country.

The apex court judgement was a clear and total vindication of BJP's consistent stand for repeal of IMDT Act, he added.

Complete Coverage: The Twin Yatras

Singh said the 'demographic balance' in the country was getting disturbed because of increase in Muslim population and due to heavy influx from Bangladesh. Lashing out at the UPA government for its failure to curb rise in prices of essential commodities, he said whenever Congress came to power, the prices have shot up.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, his counterparts in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand Raman Singh and Arjun Munda respectively and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi are accompanying the yatra.