Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar flagged of BJP leader LK Advani's yatra against corruption today from Jai Prakash Narayan's village in the state. Advani's 12,000-km campaign against corruption--a journey many see as an attempt to be his party's candidate for the PM's post in 2014.
The plan was to flag off the yatra from Sitab Diara but the venue was moved to Chhapra in view of the bad road condition and waterlogging.
Advani, accompanied by Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley respectively, arrived by a chartered plane. He is scheduled to address a public meeting at Chapra and proceed by road to Patna where he would be addressing another rally in the evening.
During his yatra, Advani would stay in Bihar for two days and would be addressing meetings at Ara and Buxar on Wednesday before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who would flag off the yatra, has lauded Advani for his endeavour which, he believes, would raise public consciousness about large-scale corruption in the country and bring back black money locked up in foreign banks.
Advani plans to cover around 300 km a day in his special rath or modified bus during his 12,000-km campaign called Jan Chetna Yatra. The yatra will mobilise public opinion on electoral and judicial reforms, black money and scams faced by the UPA government. It will begin from the birth place of Jayaprakash Narayan at Sitab Diara village on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border.
On Monday, Advani avoided ruling out his candidature for the prime minister’s post in the run-up to the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2014. “Who will be the prime ministerial candidate; the party will decide when the polls come. It is still more than two years away. However, the government is functioning in a manner that it seems it can fall any time,” he said at a press conference.
After intense speculation that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh wanted him to bow out of the race for the top post, Advani, 83, has not done so unequivocally.
The BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance seem to be gathering around Advani after reportedly being concerned about his intentions. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who skipped the BJP's two-day national executive in Delhi recently and is seen as a leading prime ministerial candidate for 2014, said working with Advani is an "honour".
"I had the honour of having worked in very close proximity with Advani ji. It is extremely unfortunate and condemnable that some vested interests are spreading rumours about him," said Modi in his blog on Monday
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