Renaming of Raje's yatra example of BJP's 'intellectual bankruptcy': Tiwari

State president of the newly formed Bharat Vahini Party Ghanshyam Tiwari today said the renaming of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje's yatra as Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra was an example of BJP's "intellectual bankruptcy".

The former BJP leader claimed that the ruling party has "stolen" the nomenclature from his outfit.

Tiwari, who visited Charbhujanath temple in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, questioned as to how Raje would raise the pride of Rajasthan with this yatra.

Raje is scheduled to visit the temple before launching the yatra from Rajsamand district. The yatra will cover all the divisions of the state as part of her election campaign.

"It was a conspiracy of the BJP to rename its Suraj GauravYatraas Rajasthan GauravYatra which shows BJP's intellectual bankruptcy," Tiwaritold reporters in Rajsamand.

Tiwari said that Bharat Vahini Party had earlier fixed the name 'Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra' for its own yatra but BJP "deliberately stole" the name after he called the preannounced 'Suraj Gaurav Yarta' (good governance yatra) as 'Kuraj Gaurav Yatra'.

Hitting out at the critics of Raje's yatra, BJP national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna said those commenting against the yatra are, in a way, "challenging the pride of Rajasthan".

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot and former chief miniter Ashok Gehlot have also targeted Raje over the name of the yatra, with Pilot saying she should instead take out a 'Jawabdehi yatra' while Gehlot suggested it to be named 'Kuraj yatra' (bad governance yatra).

"All those frustrated opponents who are commenting on the name of Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra are trying to challenge the pride of Rajasthan," Khanna told reporters at the party headquarters in Jaipur.

Raje's yatra will be flagged off from Rajsamand on August 4 which will cover Udaipur, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota, Jaipur and Ajmer divisions till the end of September.