Guj: BJP flags off 'chariots' to seek views for poll manifesto

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday flagged off 26 'raths' (chariots) in the state to seek people's suggestions for preparing BJP's manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Shaba elections.

These saffron-coloured motorised vehicles will travel to all 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state for a month to to gather views and suggestions in different ways from people.

"Earlier, manifestos of all parties were prepared at the party headquarters. Now, we have decided to take this exercise a step further and invite direct suggestions from people," Rupani said.

"This is for the first time in the country that we are asking people for suggestions that could be included in the party's 'sankalp patra' (manifesto)," Rupani claimed, adding that no other party has done this earlier.

Notably, BJP president Amit Shah and senior party leader Rajnath Singh had on Sunday launched "Bharat ke mann ki baat, Modi ke saath", a month-long exercise to seek suggestions from 10 crore people across the country to help the party prepare its 'sankalp patra'.

BJP Gujarat unit president Jitu Vaghani said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme 'Mann Ki Baat' has become very popular in the country, but now the party will also listen to 'Bharat ke mann ki baat' to prepare its manifesto.

Party leader Bharat Pandya, who has been appointed coordinator of the exercise in Gujarat, said people can give their suggestions in five ways under the programme.

People can give a missed call on mobile number 6357171717, after which they will be called back to record their suggestion or they can also put forth their views on the website - bharatkemannkibaat.com, he said.

They can also give suggestions directly in boxes that will be kept at 7,500 places across the country, he said.

People can also post their suggestions on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using hashtag #BharatKeMannKiBaat, or video record their views on tablets that will be made available in the chariots, Pandya said.