Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath launched the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan,’ a twin bike yatra connecting Kashi, PM Modi’s parliamentary constituency, with Vadnagar in Gujarat, his birthplace, to mark his 76th birthday.

The campaign’s physical structure is the interesting part: one convoy literally carries Gangajal from Kashi to Vadnagar, and another brings water from Gujarat’s rivers back to Kashi, covering 10 states, 193 districts and 1,159 villages along a route spanning nearly a month.

That’s a deliberate piece of symbolism — turning an abstract idea (‘this leader’s roots connect to where he governs from’) into something physically traceable, village by village, with actual water carried the entire distance rather than just described in a speech.

Rajnath Singh’s framing, calling it a journey connecting ‘Janmabhoomi with Karmabhoomi’ (birthplace with workplace), captures the intent directly: it’s less a campaign event and more a geography lesson turned into a lived, multi-week ritual.

The device generalizes beyond politics: any organization trying to build a shared identity across a large, dispersed group often benefits more from a tangible, traceable ritual — a relay, a shared object physically passed along a route — than from a slogan alone, because the physical journey gives people something concrete to participate in and remember.

The campaign is being organized by the BJP to mark PM Modi’s 25 years of public service and his 76th birthday on September 17.

Rajnath Singh credited the Modi government with several major national changes during the launch, including action against Naxalism and the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Defence Minister also cited poverty reduction affecting crores of people, greater women’s participation in Parliament, and the promotion of the semiconductor industry among the government’s achievements.

The Seva Sankalp Abhiyan follows a template used in past years, including a similar ‘Seva Sankalp’ walk led by Delhi CM Rekha Gupta on PM Modi’s 75th birthday.

Dashashwamedh Ghat, Varanasi (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0