BHOPAL, Sept 12: The Union Government's
decision to set up a railway zone at Bilaspur
has come as a much-needed shot in the arm for
the BJP in this Congress-ruled State. Madhya
Pradesh BJP general secretary Meghraj Jain
told The Indian Express today that Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would lay the
foundation stone of the new railway zone on
September 20.
Unlike the demand for Chhattisgarh state, the
demand for the railway zone at Bilaspur had
seen violent agitations and property worth
hundreds of crores of rupees had been damaged.
At one stage, all ministers from the Bilaspur
region had been submitted their resignations
from the Digvijay Singh cabinet. They agreed
to stay on only after the Chief Minister
assured them that he would persuade the Centre
to allocate a railway zone to Bilaspur.
AICC spokesman Ajit Jogi was reported to have
announced earlier this month that if a railway
zone for Bilaspur was announced by September
15, the BJP would have a major impact in all
the 19 seats in Bilaspurdistrict. His words
seem to have come true.
The BJP, it appears, has decided to pay
special attention to Chhattisgarh region, a
traditional Congress stronghold. The region
has 90 Assembly constituencies. After Vajpayee
lays the foundation stone of the new railway
zone on September 20, Home Minister L K Advani
will visit Bilaspur on October 4 to address a
division level party rally. Efforts are also
being made to arrange another Prime
Ministerial visit to the Chhattisgarh region
to address one of the rallies in early
October, according to Jain.
Seven yatras of the State BJP, led by senior
leaders, are at present traversing the length
and width of Madhya Pradesh, with the
objective of educating the people on the
``misrule'' of the Digvijay Singh Government.
These yatras complete their itineraries by
September 19. Early next month the party has
planned big division level rallies all over
the State. Vajpayee, Advani and Sushma Swaraj,
among others, are scheduled to address these
rallies.