Haryana leader starts tractor ‘yatra’

KALKA - At a time when most politicians use luxurious motorised raths (chariot) to conduct marches, Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi Monday initiated his partys ‘Janhit Yatra’ from this Haryana town on tractors.

This 16-day yatra of Bishnoi will cover different parts of Haryana before culminating at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

“Our yatra will pass through various districts of Haryana and our main aim is to listen to the grievances of local people. This yatra would finish at Jantar Mantar and we would sit on one day hunger strike to protest against the wrong policies and corruption of Congress government,” Bishnoi told reporters in Kalka, 25 km from Chandigarh.

“On reaching Delhi, we would also submit a memorandum to the president of India. We have deliberately used tractors as mode of transport, because they are used by the rural people, who are our main strength. We would go on slow speed and try to attend to as many people as we can,” said Bishnoi, who is the son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal.

Bishnoi also himself drove a yellow-coloured tractor, which depicts the colour of the flag of his party.

Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal were suspended from the Congress after they floated their own political outfit in 2007.

The father-son duo were upset with the Congress leadership since Bhajan Lal was denied the chief ministers post even though he led the party to one of its biggest victories in the 2005 assembly polls.