BJP abandons gaurav yatras

JAIPUR, May 18: The Bharatiya Janata Party has shelved its plan to undertake gaurav yatras'' from Pokhran while the Vishwa Hindu Parishad ...

JAIPUR, May 18: The Bharatiya Janata Party has shelved its plan to undertake 8220;gaurav yatras8221; from Pokhran while the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is going to construct a 8220;shakti-peeth8221; in the vicinity of the nuclear blasts site. The BJP earlier planned to take out 8220;gaurav yatras8221; from Pokhran carrying the 8220;sacred soil8221; of the area and present it to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and nuclear scientists who had done the country proud by their feat.Sources said the Sangh Parivar decided to call off the 8220;yatras8221; to blunt Opposition criticism that the BJP was trying to exploit a national achievement for its partisan interests.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP, has however, floated the 8220;shakti-peeth8221; idea to ensure that the popular upsurge in the wake of the blasts is consolidated into a long-term gain by identifying it as a Sangh Parivar achievement.

The Rajasthan BJP executive, which met here on May 14, resolved to undertake the 8220;yatras8221; in the presence ofgeneral secretary K N Govindacharya. The executive resolution said the nuclear tests had 8220;done every Indian proud. We would like to warn those proud of their Ghoris and Ghaznavis that whenever Pakistan forced war on us, it had to face defeat8230; Today, the whole nation is ready for any sacrifice8221;.

Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat made a vociferous plea for converting public euphoria in the wake of the blasts into popular electoral support in the coming Assembly polls. After the BJP adopted the line that it looked at the nuclear blasts beyond party politics, VHP working president Ashok Singhal declared at Bhubaneswar yesterday that he planned setting up a 8220;shakti-peeth8221; to commemorate the nuclear blasts. He said sants all over the country had been expressing themselves in favour of the idea ever since the 1974 blast.

He said the 8220;shakti-peeth8221; site would be 8220;purified8221; with water brought from various pilgrim centres.

Sources said the 8220;shakti-peeth8221; would permanentlyidentify the Sangh Parivar with the country8217;s achievements on the nuclear front.