Amit Shah flags off Vasundhara Raje's 58-day pre-poll Gaurav Yatra
Jaipur, Aug 4 (IBNS): BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday flagged off Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's 'Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra' from the Charbhujanath temple in Rajsamand district in the run-up to the state Assembly election.
The 58-day tour is aimed at reaching out to the people and garner their support in the poll to be held later this year.
The yatra will cover all the 165 Assembly constituencies.
Media reports said Raje and Shah offered prayers at the temple before the Chief Minister boarded the specially designed bus with the party president.
The Yatra, which consists of seven phases, will end on Sept 30.
Raje, 65, became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2003. She remained in the office till 2008, the year in which the BJP had lost the state poll to the Congress.
With a sweeping majority, the BJP returned to power in 2008 with Raje once again as the Chief Minister.
Her government was in the midst of several controversies with the opposition party, the Congress, accusing it of being involved in corruption.
The Rajasthan poll is crucial for the 2019 General Elections as the Congress is eyeing on to wrest power in the state under the leadership of state chief Sachin Pilot.
In recent Rajasthan by-polls, the saffron outfit suffered setbacks by losing Alwar and Ajmer parliamentary seats as well as Mandalgarh assembly constituency to the Congress.
Not giving much importance to the BJP's poll campaign, the Congress said the real test will be the people's support.
Pilot has been quoted by NDTV as saying, "Vasundhara Raje has to answer people of the state , she never met people when in power for 4 years and now do people want to meet her?"
In the last Assembly polls, the BJP had secured a thumping majority by bagging 163 out of 200 seats. The Congress had won just 21 seats.
The election will be held at the end of 2018.
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