Varanasi: To mark the beginning of month-long birthday celebration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrival of dignitaries began with the landing of flight of defence minister Rajnath Singh in the evening.Main celebration will start with motorcycle rally from Rudraksh Convention Centre here to be flagged off by Rajnath Singh and chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday morning to reach Vadnagar, while another rally will be flagged off from Vadnagar to reach Kashi. This event is named as ‘Janmbhoomi (birthplace) to Karmbhoomi (workplace)’ Seva Yatra.Before the arrival of Rajnath Singh, UP minister JPS Rathore and Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’s national coordinator and MP B D Sharma carried out a cleanliness drive near Swami Vivekananda’s statue at Mint House Nadesar area to mark the celebrations.BJP Kashi regional unit president Ashok Chaurasia and other party leaders monitored the preparations. Unit spokesman Navratan Rathi said that Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Union minister Chirag Paswan, deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary and other senior leaders will reach on Thursday morning.The series of events on Thursday morning will start with gathering of 51 ‘Seva Karyakarta’ (service volunteers), who will leave Varanasi for Vadnagar by motorcycles as a part of ‘Seva Sankalp Bike Yatra’. They will gather at Lalita Ghat to fetch ‘Gangajal’ and reach Kashi Vishwanath temple to offer Jalabhishek amidst beats of Damrus. After they perform ‘havan’ at 11 ‘kunds’ to pray for the well-being of PM Modi, tilak will be applied and helmets will be gifted to the bikers before they reach Rudraksh Convention centre.An exhibition on 25 years political journey of PM Modi, his contributions and achievements will be opened and viewed by the guests. Later, they will address the gathering of invitees at the Rudraksh Convention centre’s auditorium. Rathi said, after the defence minister and CM Yogi will reach the dais created outside Rudraksh to flag off the BJP and Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s ‘Seva Sankalp Bike Yatra’ from Kashi to Vadnagar. The yatra is part of the party’s month-long ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, to be held across the country from Sep 17 to Oct 17.While V D Sharma will be monitoring all the events including flagging off ceremony in Varanasi, BJYM national president and MP Hemang Joshi will be in Vadnagar from where another batch of Seva Karyakarta will leave for Varanasi by motorcycles.The ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ is a booth-level campaign to spread the message of service, good governance, welfare of the poor and a developed India, said Chaurasia, mentioning its key highlight will be events like ‘Sapno Ka Bharat’ programme, activities and speech competitions based on the vision of a developed India, organised in govt and private schools. In rural areas, public contact will be strengthened through ‘Gram Chaupal and Direct Dialogue’ programmes.As part of the campaign, the ‘Aashirwad Ka Diya’ programme will be organised at more than 31,000 booths. Through this initiative, the party plans to connect citizens’ and workers’ faith in the Prime Minister at the booth level. Participation of workers, youth, women and beneficiaries of various govt schemes will be ensured. Booth committees and panna pramukhs were tasked with taking the campaign door to door.The party will also use social media, WhatsApp, local publicity platforms, creative content and influencers to reach the younger generation. Office-bearers have been asked to prepare a time-bound calendar for all programmes and ensure maximum public participation.Chaurasia said 13 major programmes will be held during the month-long campaign. These include ‘Namo Seva Gatha’, ‘Aangan Ka Utsav’, ‘Kahani Badlav Ki’, ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’, ‘Vadnagar to Varanasi Yatra’, ‘Seva Mera Yogdan’, ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’, ‘Rangoli Rashtra and Ghar-Ghar Se Rashtra Tak’, ‘National Innovation Challenge’ and ‘Janseva Mahakumbh’.Chaurasia said the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ is a medium to express the nation’s gratitude to the Prime Minister and to take the resolve of a developed India to every citizen. He urged office-bearers to ensure public participation in all service programmes and to shape the campaign into a public movement rather than merely an organisational activity.
