Kathua/Jammu, Aug 13 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday joined Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s ‘Tiranga yatra’ in Kathua district as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
Riding pillion on a motorcycle with a tricolour in his hand, Singh led the bike rally from Kalibari along the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway with hundreds of participants chanting slogans in praise of the country.
The rally passed through various parts of Kathua before culminating at Mukherjee Chowk, named after Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The minister paid floral tributes to the statue of Mookerjee there and said, “His sacrifices and vision inspired the ‘Ek Vidhaan, Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan’ movement.”
Kathua is part of the Udhampur parliamentary constituency represented by Singh in the Lok Sabha. He won the seat for the BJP for the third time in the general elections held recently.
“Such rallies by the BJYM are happening across the country (in connection with Independence Day celebrations). Kathua is the place, where the BJP founding ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee was arrested before his mysterious death in Srinagar,” the Union minister told reporters.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) is the youth wing of the BJP.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has fulfilled the pledge taken by Mookerjee by abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
The minister also took part in a cleanliness drive around the statue as part of the ongoing Swachhta campaign.
“The statue is a source of inspiration for the youth, signifying the sacrifices made for the nation by sons of the soil,” he said, adding “By abrogating Article 370, Modi recognised the sacrifice of Mookerjee, and this towering statue vindicates his struggle for a unified India.”
Later, the Union minister held a ‘public durbar’ as part of his concerted effort to seek swift redressal of public issues and fulfilment of their demands on the spot with the district administration.
The minister said he has issued directions to the district officers to address the people’s demands without fail and furnish action-taken reports.
“Everything is being done to resolve public issues and usher in transparency in governance,” he said.
According to officials, several ‘Tiranga’ rallies have been organised across Jammu over the last couple of days under the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
Meanwhile, a 750-metre national flag carried by students marked the ‘Tiranga’ rally at the world’s highest railway bridge — the Chenab bridge — in Reasi district.
The participants chanted slogans as they stood on the 1.3 km bridge, located 359 metres above the riverbed – 35 metres higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, which is part of the ongoing Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway link project.