It will be a different kind of public meeting for those attending ‘Nava Bharath Yuva Bheri’ to be addressed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, here, on August 11. Each of them will have to pay a registration fee of Rs. 5 to gain entry into the venue.
“Generally, political parties pay money to mobilise people. But here, the delegates will have to pay a nominal registration fee of Rs. 5,” said State BJP spokesperson, N. Ramchander Rao.
He said the BJP had targeted to mobilise one lakh youth for the meeting, mostly drawn from the IT sector, professional colleges, law students and advocates among others from urban as well as rural areas. He said the amount collected through registration would be donated to the Uttarakhand flood victims.
As many as 35,000 people confirmed their participation online and offline till Monday, Mr. Rao added.
Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary, P. Muralidhar Rao, accused the UPA government of adopting an undemocratic route in bringing the Food Security Bill through an ordinance. It has relegated the role of Parliament on a very crucial bill for the poor having wider implications.
He said the Food Security Bill was another major political step for the Congress. While the effort to spread the benefits of economic development was laudable, the distribution of resources was exactly what the Bill failed to address. Mr. Rao expressed fears that the Bill would encourage small and marginal farmers to look for alternatives like commercial crops and horticulture.
