250 Rallies Planned by BJP for Government's One-Year Mark

New Delhi: The BJP is preparing to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's one year in power with a week-long celebration which will resemble a campaign. The day will be observed as Jan Kalyan Parv (People's Welfare Festival) in an apparent bid to shake off the opposition's "pro-corporate" charges.

PM Modi will kickstart the celebrations on May 25, with a rally in Mathura, the hometown of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the patriarch of the party's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It will be followed by a blitzkrieg of 250 rallies across the country - roughly one for every two Lok Sabha constituencies, said a senior leader.

On Thursday, the BJP held the first strategy session for the programme at its headquarters in Delhi.

With the government's first anniversary to witness around 500 media conferences across the country, a day-long workshop was held for the party's 150-odd spokespersons.

Addressing the spokespersons, party chief Amit Shah told them to carry the message about the government's achievements to the masses, said party sources. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and telecom minister Ravishankar Prasad briefed them about the achievements that can be highlighted.

The party's lawmakers also have their task cut out. Each Parliamentarian has been asked to issue a booklet on his achievements and distribute it in his constituency. Each government department is also preparing a booklet and an e-booklet for the cadres. Each minister has been asked to be at a city to spearhead the campaign on May 26.

There, however, is no clarity yet on the Prime Minister's schedule. While some partymen say he will be in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, others contend that he will be in Delhi.

The party also plans to make use of the over 10 crore members who joined during the recently concluded membership drive.

A senior minister said the programme was also meant to galvanize the cadres. "Over the last year, there have been complaints about a growing gap between the government and party workers," he said.