CM Yogi Adityanath, BJP ministers flag off bike rally where bikers rode without helmets

The BJP's campaign is seen as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's proposed bicycle rallies in December in which the SP chief, Akhilesh Yadav, will himself ride the vehicle.

It is reported that besides Adityanath, who participated in the motorcycle rally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, state BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey hit the streets in Chandauli.

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his cabinet ministers on Saturday took part in a motorcycles rally as part of the BJP's efforts to garner support for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has organised a "Kamal Sandesh Yatra" across UP to propagate the work done by both central and state governments. While Chief Minister Yogi from stage asked the workers to join the bike rally wearing helmets but a majority of the participants drove without helmets. When ABP News asked one of the participants on why he was not wearing a helmet, he said “we were in a hurry and forgot to bring the helmet.” The campaign was held at all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It is reported that besides Adityanath, who participated in the motorcycle rally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, state BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey hit the streets in Chandauli. The BJP's campaign is seen as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's proposed bicycle rallies in December in which the SP chief, Akhilesh Yadav, will himself ride the vehicle. In the 2012 assembly election, Akhilesh Yadav had led the SP's campaign on a bicycle and had undertaken 'Rath yatras' crisscrossing the state. Akhilesh Yadav was scheduled to begin his bicycle yatra about a month ago, but SP sources said the plan was later pushed to December.  The SP's bicycle yatra is likely to start from the village of a boy named 'Khajanchi', who was born outside an ATM kiosk in 2016 during the Centre's demonetisation drive. The BJP, which won 70 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, is eyeing to repeat its performance in 2019.