BJP plans statewide yatra for Patna blast victims

In a bid to mobilise support after serial blasts struck its rally in Patna on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday began a 'shahid asthi-kalash yatra' of the six blast victims from six different villages that would be taken to different parts of the state before being immersed in Ganga river in Patna.

The yatra began two days ahead of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi visit to Bihar to meet the kin of the six people killed and dozens of seriously injured in the serial blasts at Gandhi maidan, the venue of his hunkar rally on Sunday.

The state BJP has declared blasts victims as martyrs on Monday.

The six blast victims, mostly BJP workers and block level party leaders, are Vikas Kumar Singh alias Guddu, 28, a resident of Nisiza village in Kaimur district, Munna Srivastava, 35, resident of Hathua in Gopalganj district, Bharat Razak, 59, resident of Supaul district, Bindeshwari Chaudhary, 58, resident of Tarapur Bariyarpur in Begusarai district, Rajnarain Singh, 70, resident of Gaurichak in Patna district and Rajesh Kumar, 28, resident of Ahiiyapur Mushhari in Nalanda district.

"The ashes of the victims would be taken to different parts of the state from their native villages and immersed in the Ganga river in Patna on November 5," state BJP president Mangal Paney told rediff.com

in Patna.

Pandey denied that the yatra has anything to do with politics.

According to BJP sources in Patna, senior party leaders have joined the yatra from different places to mourn the victims.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and party MP Pardip Singh have joined yatra in Simrahi in Supaul district, Pandey and BJP national general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Badi Dhanesh in Gopalganj district, Leader of opposition Nand Kishore Yadav and former minister Ramadhar Singh in Nisija in Kaimur district, BJP national vice president C P Thakur and former minister Vayas Deo in Begusarai district, former minister Griraj Singh and BJP MLA Prem Ranjan Patel in Nalanda and former state ministers Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Prem Kumar in Gaurichak in Patna district.

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United, and opposition Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party and the Left parties have warned that the yatra may create trouble and tension after the serial blasts.

"The BJP's move is to encash on the blast victims for its political gain," state JD-U president Bashiasht Narayan Singh said.