TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: In a bid to drum up support for Vallabhai Patel, as many as 50,000 youth, including college students, are expected to participate in the 2-km Run for Unity organized by the BJP government in Goa on Sunday.
“The historic Run for Unity will unite the country in paying tribute to Sardar Vallabhai Patel and also aims at creating awareness and mobilizing support for the cause,” Minister Mahadev Naik, coordinator for the day-long event told a press conference at Secretariat on Thursday.
Similar runs will be simultaneously held across all the states and union territories as the Gujarat government under its chief minister Narendra Modi has taken up the responsibility of creating a befitting memorial for Sardar Patel.
Claiming it to be a State-funded event, Naik said they expect participation of 20,000 higher secondary and college students for the run, while the remaining will be people from different walks of life.
“We have also informed all the legislators irrespective of which party they belong to and urged them to participate in the run,” he said adding that education, sports and police departments among other concerned authorities have been roped-in to ensure a successful event. Naik ruled out that this was a strategy to garner votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
BJP MLAs Kiran Kandolkar and Subhash Faldesai have been given the charge to coordinate in the north and south districts respectively.
A total of 260 Kadamba buses and 400 Bal Rath buses will be ferrying the participants to and fro the venues across 12 talukas. The run will start at 8 am and will end at 10 am.
The minister was however unable to disclose the cost to the State exchequer for hosting this event, despite repeated questions.
Our Porvorim correspondent adds that around 7000 people are expected to participate at Mapusa on December 15.
At a news conference at Mapusa, Art and Culture Minister Dayanand Mandrekar stated that the run will be flagged off by North Goa MP Shripad Naik at Mapusa taxi stand at 8 am and would culminate at Bogdeswar temple.”
Tivim MLA Kiran Kandolker stated that about 7000 people comprising of students, teachers, social organizations, etc, are expected to participate. Aldona MLA Glen Ticlo and the chairperson of MMC also spoke.
Meanwhile, at Valpoi, OBC Corporation Chairman Satyavijay Naik said the event in Valpoi will commence from the higher secondary ground at 8 am and will culminate at the Police Training School ground.
Vishwajeet K Rane stated that about 3000 participants from all over Sattari taluka are expected to participate in the event.
