Lucknow: The Vishva Hindu Parishad will start its 41-day long Ram Rajya Yatra from the temple town of Ayodhya on Tuesday.
Yatra will culminate in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu on March 23 after passing through six states.
However, no government representative, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will be present for the inauguration of the rath yatra.
The yatra will be flagged off by VHP’s Mahamantri Champat Rai from Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya, the workshop set up by the VHP to carve stones for Ram Temple since 1990s.
The yatra is being seen as an effort to consolidate Hindu votes for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP Stalwart Lal Krishna Advani also led a rath yatra almost 28 year ago from Somnath in Gujarat to garner support for the Ram Mandir movement. The yatra culminated at Ayodhya after passing through entire country.
The Ram Rajya Rath, a converted mini truck, will be travelling through BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It will then pass through Karnataka where the party is hoping to wrest power from the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections. The last phase is through Kerala, where the BJP is trying to strengthen its cadre.
The trip will last 41 days, traveling 6000 km and reach Rameshwaram on March 25. A sant sabha is also being organised at around 1pm, before the commencement of the yatra. The Ram Rajya Rath Yatra will raise issues like construction of Ram Temple, Ram Rajya, and inclusion of the Ramayana in the curriculum of the schools along its route.
Some leaders from the non-BJP ruled states like Kerala have said that they are not very comfortable with the idea, especially in view of the 1990 Rath Yatra hosted by LK Advani, which had triggered violence in parts of the country.
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