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Gaurav 'rath yatra' to begin tomorrow

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR Sept. 6. After a series of cancellations and postponements, the Gujarat "Gaurav Rath Yatra" of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to take off on Sunday from Phagwel, non-descript village in Kheda district of central Gujarat. ``It will be our modest effort to rouse the self-respect and self-confidence of the five crore people of Gujarat whose image has been outraged by those calling the State Godse's Gujarat,'' Mr. Modi said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party State president, Rajendrasinh Rana, who will accompany Mr. Modi during the "yatra," said it would cover 5,000 km in phases, touching all the 182 Assembly segments. The "rath yatra" would be flagged off by the BJP national general secretary, Rajnath Singh, and despite reports of ill health, the former Chief Minister, Keshubhai Patel, would be present at the ceremony, Mr. Modi claimed. Mr. Patel is a known critic of the Chief Minister.

The "rath yatra" would begin with a "dhwajarohan'' ceremony at the Bhathiji Maharaj temple in Phagwel. Asked about a similar ceremony performed by the Gujarat Congress president, Shankarsinh Waghela, in the same temple on September 3, Mr. Modi said the BJP would have nothing to do with the flag hoisted by the former. Ruling out the possibility of a confrontation with Mr. Waghela's supporters, Mr. Modi said "there is no scope for confrontation in democracy.'' Mr. Waghela himself had taken out a "rath yatra'' on Tuesday and had no right to advise the BJP to give up its plans.

Mr. Modi said he had postponed the "rath yatra" to Sunday "in the interest of peace and unity among the people of the State.'' He denied that he had given in to "popular demand" as being claimed by the Congress.

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