In a massive exercise to reach out to families whose members have served or are serving in defence forces, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttarakhand is set to organise 'Shaheed Samman Yatra' in October.
The yatra will be held months before the assembly polls in the state and is expected to boost the ruling party's prospects. The party is expecting to reach out to voters in every village of the state through the yatra.
'Fauji' voters in the hill state, including serving personnel and ex-servicemen, are estimated to be 4.5 lakh.
The government will reach out to every family whose member laid down his life for the country and will collect soil from the courtyard of each such house during the yatra.
The soil collected from houses of martyrs will be used in the construction of 'Sainya Dham', a holy place in memory of those who laid their lives in service of nation.
Ganesh Joshi, Minister of Soldier Welfare, Uttarakhand toldthat Uttarakhand is known as a land of soldiers and the decision to have a 'dham' for martyrs is just natural.
"It is for this Sainya Dham that soil for martyrs needs to be collected. We will organise Shaheed Samman Yatra for it. The soil will then be used to construct the place dedicated to the heroes of our nation. We will also build two temples for martyrs Baba Jaswant Singh and Baba Harbhajan Singh," the minister said.
He felt that the fifth "dham" in the state will inspire the youth of the country.
Uttarkhand has a sizeable number of ex-servicemen or families whose members are serving in defence forces and many BJP leaders see the yatra as "a game-changer" ahead of elections early next year.
Sources said public representatives will reach out to the families of soldiers who had laid down their lives for the country. "It will have a huge impact," the source said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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