Sitab Diara: Senior BJP leader LK Advani began his 38-day long Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption from Sitab Diara village in Bihar on Tuesday. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the yatra.
BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, who is the convener of the rath yatra, were also present at the occasion.
Speaking ahead of the yatra, Advani said, "I have come to this village for the first time and I accept Nitish Kumar's invitation to come here again after completing the the yatra."
Slamming the UPA government for poor governance and corruption, he accused the Manmohan Singh government of using all means to stay in power. "The party at the Centre is trying to remain in power by corruption," he said.
Flagging off the yatra, Nitish said, "People are frustrated with the widespread corruption. I welcome Advaniji for starting his yatra against corruption from Bihar."
Talking about anti-corruption measures in Bihar, Nitish said, "With the Lokseva law in place, officers have to deliver in time or face action in Bihar."
The yatra will span 12,000 kilometres and will cover 23 states and 4 union territories.
Advani will spend a total of only 14 days the poll bound states in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Gujarat. He will spend two days in Gujarat and five days in Uttar Pradesh.
The yatra will conclude in Delhi on November 20 in the form of a massive rally
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.
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.
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 Sadbhavna 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 Jaya Prakash Narayan's birthplace in Chapra.
However, burying all underlying tension and recent differences, the Gujarat Chief Minister decided to speak out in favour of the octogenarian's month-long tour.
In an open letter published on his website on Monday, Narendra Modi wrote, "Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra holds a very special place, because of his fight against corruption, demand for bringing black money stacked in foreign banks."
Advani's yatra came under attack from the Congress on Tuesday as the party's General secretary Digvijaya Singh tweeted, "Would Advaniji also ask BJP workers not to extort money from people for arranging his Yatra. 25 per cent BJP Ministers in MP including the Chief Minister under investigation of corruption arranging Advaniji's Yatra against corruption. What an irony."
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