Congress yatra from West Champaran

PATNA: The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) will launch its ‘Amantran Yatra’ from West Champaran’s Bhitiharwa Ashram.
Talking to TOI before leaving for New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the yatra’s nitty-gritty with senior Congress leaders, BPCC’s acting president Kaukab Quadri said the party chose to launch the yatra from West Champaran as it was Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘karmabhoomi’ and the Congress always followed the Mahatma’s footsteps.
“The yatra date has not been finalised; it may begin from January 19,” Quadri said.
The Congress during the yatra will highlight the Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s unfulfilled promises at the central as well as state levels, Quadri said and claimed the Congress would gain hugely in the next parliamentary as well as the Bihar assembly elections.
BPCC member Ajay Kumar Choudhary, who is working on the yatra’s route and schedule said the eight-phase yatra would cover all the nine divisions of Bihar. “Details of phases one and two have been chalked out,” he said.
According to Congress sources, the yatra is aimed at strengthening the party before the 2019 general election and the 2020 state assembly election. “Through this yatra, the Congress will try to activate its former and inactive members,” said party functionary Madan Mohan Jha.
While senior party members will be felicitated during the yatra, attempts will be made to woo fresh faces. “We are also preparing a list of the party members who have withdrawn themselves from the mainstream activities,” a party functionary said and added the party would also try to win over the JD (U) members who were against the CM Nitish Kumar’s decision to abandon the Grand Alliance and join the NDA.