Prashant Kishor to embark on statewide march from Champaran on Sunday

PATNA: Poll strategist-turned-political activist Prashant Kishor (PK) will embark on a statewide padyatra (foot march) from Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran district on Sunday.
He is slated to walk for around 3,500 km over the next one and a half years under his ‘Jansuraj’ campaign with the motive of interacting with people at grassroots level and identifying their problems ahead of launching a political party.
PK has strategically chosen Bhitiharwa Ashram as the starting point of his yatra as it is the place from where Mahatma Gandhi had started his Satyagraha movement against the British Empire in 1917. The commencement of PK’s padytra also coincides with Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2. PK also claims that the political outfit or party which he will form will follow the Gandhian ideology.
“I will walk for around 3,500 kilometres and try to reach every block and most panchayats in the state. It will take around one to one and a half years to complete the padyatra during which I will not return to Patna or Delhi,” Kishor said in a statement issued on Saturday.
PK, who was at Patna on Saturday, will leave for Bhitiharwa early Sunday morning. Hundreds of vehicles are likely to accompany him on the way. He is scheduled to reach Bhitiharwa by 1pm and kick-start the yatra by 1:30pm.
Kishor is slated to walk in different areas of West Champaran for around 35 days. He will spend the nights at the accommodation arranged by his supporters and members of Jan Suraj campaign.
Deliberating on the motive of the padyatra, Kishor said: “There are basically three purposes of this padyatra -- identifying right people and bringing them on a common democratic platform, making a blueprint of development of towns and panchayats based on identification of grassroots issues and, finally, preparation of a vision document for holistic development of Bihar through development in 10 key sectors over the next 15 years.”