BJP's spends crores on 'Mehenga' Rally

Principal opposition party spends crores to highlight price rise issue in Delhi

Principal opposition party spends crores to highlight price rise issue in Delhi

Nearly five lakh people to participate, 17 special trains booked, 4,000 buses rolled out-the BJP's anti-price rise planned for today in the capital throws up impressive numbers. It's also ironical that austerity doesn't usually figure in the plans of politicians trying to underscore an issue such as inflation.

Dr Sanjay Dhingra, who runs a clinic in old Delhi, has been a witness to many such rallies over the years. "Considering the estimated number of participants that the BJP has declared and the food, water, lodging, transportation etc for them, the cost should be at least Rs five crore," he said.


All for the cause: Special teams with bands have been deputed
at the railway station. PICs/IMTIYAZ KHAN

Rally infrastructure
The Mehengai rally is to be addressed by senior party leaders, including LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh besides new party president Nitin Gadkari, BJP sources said.

The rally being held at the Ram Lila grounds is to culminate in a march to the Parliament. "Approximately, 1.75 lakh workers are arriving through trains. Seventeen special trains have been booked for the states, which are far flung," said Virender Sachdeva, one of the key organisers in the Delhi BJP team, on Tuesday. To welcome the party workers, special teams with bands had been deputed at the railway stations.u00a0

Approximately, 4,000 buses were booked for workers coming from nearby states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajashtan, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir. " Those who will come late in the night by trains are being taken directly to Ram Lila Ground and those who are coming from the nearby states in the morning will directly come to the rally ground in the morning. They will be distributed food packets on the borders. Two lakh people are expected to reach by buses from these states," said an official on Tuesday afternoon.

In Pawar's defence

Just two days ahead of the party's rally against price rise in New Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari came out in support of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the issue of inflation. He alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was more responsible for the price rise than Pawar. "I agree that it is the responsibility of the food and civil supplies ministry to curb inflation. But at the same time, it is the responsibility of the finance and commerce ministries too. I do not hesitate in seeking Pawar's resignation, but as the head of the cabinet how can the Prime Minister escape from his responsibility? He is a great economist, and I respect him. But his bad governance and wrong economic policies are the reasons for inflation," said Gadkari on Sunday.

"The BJP has booked around 50 sarais in Chandni Chowk and around 150 big parks all across the city to accommodate party workers coming from others states. However, the party may fall short on the numbers, as a late night recce conducted by MiD DAY threw up meagre visible presence of demonstrators.

Beating the heat
Those associated with the arrangements say around 20 lakh pouches of drinking water have been ordered. Around 150 drinking water mobile taps have been installed in the vicinity of the rally ground. Not only this, there will be free lassi counters on the way of the march towards parliament.u00a0 Also, very importantly, 6,000 mobile toilets have been installed.

Rs 5 crore Estimated expenses on rally
5 lakh Expected number of participants
20 lakh Pouches of water to be distributed
6000 Mobile toilets erected