Advani reiterates his intention to bring back black money-Oct 13, 2011

Advani reiterates his intention to bring back black money

TNN | Oct 13, 2011, 11.09PM IST


VARANASI: Clarifying that the Jan Chetna Yatra (JCY) was not a bid to portray his new image for any key post, Bharatiya Janata Party's anti-corruption crusader LK Advani said his rally was in support of countrymen who had become demoralised by the inaction of Central and state governments against corruption and various scams.

"My Jan Chetna Yatra is on road to boost the morale of the same people. It should not be considered that the yatra has been launched in the interest of any individual or political party. It is in the interest of the country and for the future of our countrymen."

Advani's clarification came immediately after Uma Bharati's speech during which she tried to see this leader as future prime minister. She, however, also tried to make it clear that she was not willing to regenerate an issue for discussion as it could divert focus from core issues of the yatra. Advani, who addressed a public meeting on Bharat Mata Mandir premises before proceeding towards Mirzapur on his chariot, said: "Despite exposure of scams like 2G Spectrum, Commonwealth Games and others one after the other, the UPA government failed to put a check on corrupt practices. Apart from that the inaction of government in the cases of black money deposited in Swiss banks further demoralised the countrymen."

The people could see that instead of political institution, only institutions like judiciary, Public Account Committee and CAG were making efforts to curb corruption, he said. Besides public sentiments, BJP leaders' struggle in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and exposures made by PAC inspired him to carry out his sixth yatra in the country. He said he wanted to see the countrymen taking oath to wage a war against corruption. He pointed out that development of the country was only possible by eliminating poverty and for that black money had to be brought back to the country. He said ensuring country's development would remain impossible until the biggest state-- UP-- was developed. He said overwhelming response of people in the past two days of his yatra was hinting clearly that the BJP had the opportunity to mobilise people to find out better alternatives to end the problem of corruption.

Earlier, Advani, along with senior BJP leader and PAC chairman MM Joshi, flagged off the Jan Swabhiman Yatra (JSY) carried out by Kalraj Mishra. The BJP's yatra started in the state from Varanasi and Mathura simultaneously on Thursday. While Kalraj is leading the yatra from Varanasi, the other yatra will take place under the leadership of former BJP president Rajnath Singh. After Advani's public meeting, both the yatras left the city for Mirzapur from where the routes of the two would be separated from Friday. A galaxy of BJP leaders including Anant Kumar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Ravishankar Prasad, Uma Bharati, BJP state chief Surya Pratap Shahi, former Vidhan Sabha speaker Kesarinath Tripathi and former minister Om Prakash Singh remained present at the dais.