Padyatras mark Gandhi Jayanti in Uttarakhand

Padyatras were held in all the assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand Tuesday to mark Mahatma Gandhi's 149th birth anniversary with Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat leading the Yatra in Doiwala and Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt in Haldwani.

It was part of the party's decision to mark 150th year of Gandhi's anniversary which would culminate on October 2, 2019 in a special way at the national level, state BJP media head Devendra Bhasin said.

The padyatras are aimed as much at propagating Gandhi's message of truth, non-violence and cleanliness as at creating awareness about the public welfare schemes launched by the Centre.

In every constituency at least 150 party workers will participate in the padyatra covering a distance of 10km per day, Bhasin said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister garlanded Mahatma's statue at Gandhi park and attended similar programmes held at the state BJP office to mark the occasion.

He also garlanded the picture ofLal Bahadur Shastri at another function to mark his birth anniversary.

Rawat also paid tribute to the martyrs of Rampur Tiraha firing episode in which 7 Uttarakhand statehood activists were killed when the statehood movement was at its peak in the 1990s.

At a programme held at Rampur Tiraha to mark the occasion Rawat said Uttarakhand was the creation of people who had sacrificed their lives for it.