The Hindu : Vajpayee to kick-start campaign from Ayodhya

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 31, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Vajpayee to kick-start campaign from Ayodhya

By J P Shukla

LUCKNOW, JAN. 30 .The Bharatiya Janata Party has planned to give an "impressive" start to its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh by organising a "massive" meeting to be addressed by the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at Ayodhya on February 7.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the temple town to dedicate to the nation a newly constructed railway bridge across Ghaghra fulfilling a long-felt need of the region.

This would be the first public meeting to be addressed by Mr Vajpayee after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha on February 6. Also Mr Vajpayee would make a journey by train to inaugurate the new track connecting the two sides of the river.

The BJP sources said that it would be the first journey by train undertaken by any Prime Minister during the past 15 years and the inauguration of the bridge across the turbulent river would naturally bring into focus the plank of development that the BJP has decided to make a key issue during the elections. And the event, taking place at Ayodhya, would bring to limelight the Ram temple issue.

The Public meeting is scheduled to be held at Halkara Purwa, nearly three kms from Ayodhya. Party leaders at Faizabad have gone into action to mobilise a bring crowd.

The Prime Minister had gone to Ayodhya on August 1 last year to pay his tributes on the death of Paramhans Ram Chandra Das, the Chairman of the Ram Janmbhumi Trust, who had been in the vanguard of the temple movement since 1949. During his address at the condolence meeting, Mr. Vajpayee expressed the hope that Ram temple would be constructed and all the obstacles in its way would be removed.

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