PATNA: A day after BJP distanced itself from his ‘Hindu Swabhiman Yatra’, union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday contended that he was taking out the Yatra as a Hindu as it was neither affiliated with BJP, JD(U) or NDA. Singh will embark on his much-hyped ‘Hindu Swabhiman Yata’ from Bhagalpur on Friday. He was talking to newspersons in his Lok Sabha constituency, Begusarai, before leaving for Bhagalpur. While contending that his yatra is non-political, Singh said, “I am taking out yatra as a Hindu under the disciple of Swami Dipankar Ji. It is not connected with BJP, JD (U) or NDA.” Singh said that his Yatra was aimed at ‘awakening the Hindu community’ in Bihar, particularly in view of the recent anti-Hindu incidents in Bangladesh. He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by alleging that he wanted to push the country into civil war and so he kept making statements without any seriousness. He referred to Rahul`s remark that the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir without statehood was incomplete. “Had it been such a case, Rahul should not have participated in the election process in Jammu and Kashmir itself,” Singh commented. BJP firebrand leader`s yatra will conclude in Kishanganj on October 22 after passing the Muslim-dominated districts of Katihar, Purnia and Araria in the state`s Seemanchal region. On Wednesday, Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal had made it clear that union minister`s Yatra was not affiliated with and was not taking place under the banner of the BJP. While asserting that the yatra will not affect Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s secularism agenda, he said, “There is nothing to be worried about the yatra.” Earlier, JD (U) chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar also objected to Singh`s decision to hold the yatra, alleging that Neeraj Kumar said that the people of Bihar were already awake and watchful and so there was no need for such an act (yatra). He also firmly distanced his party from Singh’s yatra and asserted that the Bihar government under Nitish Kumar worked for all communities, including Hindus and Muslims in the Seemanchal region.
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