Advani begins his 38-day long rath yatra today-(good wishes to him if he'll make difference in curbing/creating awareness about corruption11/10/11

Politics News | Updated Oct 11, 2011 at 10:49am IST

Advani begins his 38-day long rath yatra today
Sumit PandeSumit Pande, CNN-IBN


New Delhi: Senior BJP leader LK Advani will begin his 38-day long Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption from Sitab Diara village in Bihar on Tuesday.

The yatra will span 7600 kilometres. The 38-day yatra will cover 23 states and 4 union territories.

Advani had announced his yatra plans on the last day of Parliament's monsoon session after challenging the government to arrest him in the cash-for-vote scam.

After a month of bickering within, as the BJP patriarch prepares to saddle the rath once again, he outlined the issues he would raise.

He wants government to issue a white paper on black money and even defended Team Anna's campaign against the UPA, though on the issue of leadership he wont say much.

Advani said, "The prime minister will be chosen by the party at an appropriate time."

That's also has been an issue which concerns the RSS the most.

RSS apprehends that Advani is trying to resurrect his career and remain in the reckoning for 2014.

Finally, the BJP patriarch had to go all the way to Nagpur last month to meet RSS chief to clear the air.

But murmurs persisted and the biggest blow came from Advani's closest ally of all these years, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

First through the gala Sadhbhavna mission fast, Modi proclaimed his entry into the prime ministerial race. And miffed with Advani for announcing yatra's flagging off from Gujarat without consultations, he even skipped the last national executive in Delhi earlier this month.

BJP leader Balbir Punj said, "If given an opportunity, Modi could prove to be the best prime minister this country has ever had."

Finally, a more secular Nitish Kumar was requisitioned to flag off the yatra. The venue shifted from Karamsad in Gujarat to Jai Prakash Narayan's birthplace in Chapra.

Even the party was at pains to delink yatra plans with the prime ministerial race of 2014.

Advani's first yatra from Somnath was to mobilise support for the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, this yatra now is against corruption. But politically which way Advani is headed, no one really knows.

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