Advani, Rajnath 'Rath Yatras' to begin on April 6

New Delhi, Mar 17: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh will begin their 'national integration yatras' on April 6 from Dwarka (Gujarat) and Puri (Orissa) respectively, the party announced today (Mar 17, 2006).

The two yatras, which would totally cover 10,800 km and 17 states, will conclude in Delhi on May 10, senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.

Advani will travel 5,800 km, covering ten states; Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi in 26 days.

Singh will travel 5,000 km, covering 12 states; Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi in 24 days.

The five states both the leaders would cover are Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

There are 35 days between the days the yatras start and end.

During this period, Advani and Singh would have some break to campaign for the BJP in the April-May assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, West Bengal and Assam.

Ananthakumar will be in charge of Advani's yatra, while Vijay Goel will handle Singh's yatra.

UNI