'Rath yatra' to herald Gujarat golden jubilee

Gandhinagar, Feb 9 (IANS) Celebrating the golden jubilee of Gujarat's formation, a state-wide 'Swarnim Gujarat Sankalp Rath Yatra' will be flagged off from here Feb 12. It will cover each one of the 19,165 villages of the state.

The yatra would be preceded by village-level competitions and various programmes to make the rural masses aware of the progress the state has achieved over the years, government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas and Youth and Cultural Affairs Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela told mediapersons in Ahmedabad Tuesday.

Governor Kamla Beniwal will flag off the 'rath yatra' in the presence of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Shaktisinh Gohil, on the birth anniversary of Ravishankar Maharaj, considered to be the spiritual leader of the state.

The 'rath yatra' will conclude on the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar April 14, a fortnight before the main celebrations for the 'Golden Gujarat Year' begin.

The separate state of Gujarat was created by bifurcating the erstwhile Bombay state May 1, 1960.