New Delhi: India is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The BJP, Congress and regional parties along with various citizen groups have taken out rallies in their respective regions and have pledged to make India single-use plastic free.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Gandhi Sankalp Yatra will be a 120-day exercise that will end on January 31, 2020. It was earlier scheduled to start on October 2 and conclude on October 31.

Through this yatra, the BJP plans to propagate Gandhi's ideals and principles of non-violence, swaraj and simplicity. State units of the BJP will also take part in the yatra and posters, banners and kits for the programs to be held during the yatra will be directly sent to them from Delhi headquarters.

The Congress also set out on a padayatra (rally) from the party's Delhi office to Rajghat memorial.

Various citizen groups too are taking out rallies on the occasion to create awareness with an objective of making India single-use plastic-free.

PM Modi set off the campaign to make India stop using single-use plastics. In keeping with the Swachh Bharat campaign, which is linked to Mahatma Gandhi, the programme has been launched on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

In Punjab, Fategarh Sahib administration ensured participation of students from all educational institutes including Mata Gujri College, which conducted a rally to create awareness against use of plastic, especially single-use plastic. They held candle-light march and also organised a play in this regard. Participants of the rally were seen picking up plastic waste on the road.

In Moga too, a peace march was conducted to spread the messages of Mahatma Gandhi. Moga administration also pledged to make the city plastic-free.

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