Bangalore: In a move which resembles the Saffron’ parivar’s collection of bricks to build a temple in Ayodhya in the 1990s, the Karnataka BJP unit has started collecting pieces of iron from all gram panchayats in the state to support its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s ambitious project to build the ‘Statue of Unity’ of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat.
Addressing media persons here on Thursday, party spokesperson and former minister Suresh Kumar said the BJP has decided to collect 1 kg of iron pieces from each villager which they usually use for agriculture. The party has already kickstarted the programme for collecting iron pieces for the statue.
The statue of the 'Iron Man' as Sardar Patel was popularly known, will be installed at Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat's Vadodara district. Several BJP ruled states have already started collecting iron pieces for the statue.
Revealing details of the Narendra Modi rally in Bangalore which was held on November 17, Suresh Kumar claimed that over 3.5 lakh people attended the rally. Participants for the rally arrived in 4,311 buses, 2,155 maxi cabs and Tempo Travellers, 2,234 cars and 7,700 two wheelers, he disclosed.
Meanwhile, the BJP is planning a series of rallies in the state from December last week to January 2014. Narendra Modi will address 12 rallies in the state, said Suresh Kumar.
The newly formed BJP state executive committee will meet in the third week of December while party veteran Atal Behari Vajpayee’s birthday will be celebrated in all Assembly segments and taluk centres.
A meeting of the party’s zilla panchayat (ZP) members will be held in Bangalore before December 15, Suresh Kumar explained. The BJP’s election management committees for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly will be held in December second week.
