The Bharatiya Janata Party has made elaborate arrangements in the island town of Rameswaram where party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be present on Friday to flag off the inauguration of party State president K. Annamalai’s yatra.
Mr. Shah, who will reach Rameswaram on Friday evening, will attend a public meeting, in which the party is expecting a huge participation. After the meeting, he will flag off the yatra from near the venue.
Mr. Annamalai and a large number of party cadre will cover a stretch of around four kilometre and end the yatra on the first day at Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple. On Saturday morning, Mr. Shah will offer prayers at the temple and later visit a party worker’s house in Erakadu.
He will release a book on former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam before visiting Kalam’s House. Later Mr. Shah will go to Vivekananda Memorial in Rameswaram.
After Mr. Shah’s departure from Rameswaram, the yatra would commence in the evening from Ramanathapuram, party sources said.
K. Muraleedharan, Ramanathapuram district in-charge of the party, said the BJP was fully geared up for the event which, according to him, was going to bring a sea change in the State’s politics. He said while the party had grown across the State, its growth in Ramanathapuram in recent years was especially significant and Ramanathapuram Parliamentary constituency would be an important constituency for the BJP in 2024 to show its strength.
He added that the party was expecting the presence of more than a lakh cadre for the launch of the yatra on Friday.
Owing to Mr. Shah’s visit and the large gathering of cadre, the town has come under a tight security blanket. On Thursday, Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police P. Thangadurai, accompanied by officers of the Central Reserve Police Force and other Central agencies, inspected the venue of the public meeting and the house of the party cadre to be visited by Mr. Shah to check the security arrangements.