Advani embarks on 38-day yatra today; focus on black money

Patna, Oct 11: It's yatra time once again and this time around it is carried out by senior BJP leader LK Advani who will begin his Jan Chetna Yatra from Sitab Diara in Saran district, Bihar on Oct 11. The place is also of significance as the birthplace of Jayaprakash Narayan. With the Opposition party determined to cash in on the governance deficit the UPA is displaying, the focus of the yatra is the crores of black money stashed abroad.

Moving away from a two decade old tradition, this time around Advani will kickstart his yatra from Bihar. All his earlier yatras had flagged off from Gujarat. But the simmering tiff between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Advani have caused a divide in the BJP. Advani warming up to Bihar Chief Minister is also highlighted with Nitish flagging off the yatra from Chhapra today.

A JD(U) leader has been quoted as saying on the yatra, "it will have the signature of CM Nitish Kumar in its tone and tenor." There are another rumours doing the rounds that the new power couple, Advani and Nitish Kumar's proximity is also fostered to curb the growing influence Modi is enjoying within the party.

Bihar is all geared up to host the yatra, with Advani determined to pass through 18 states and some union territories. The yatra will come to an end at Delhi on Nov 20 covering almost 12,000 km which means that it will cover an estimated 300 km a day.

Speaking in a press conference in the sidelines of the yatra, Advani said, "In the last few years, the anger among people has increased because of rise in prices, corruption and other issues and there is no doubt the reason is lack of leadership in the UPA."

He added that the 38 day yatra will focus on the need for good and clean governance and highlight issues of corruption in the government. Advani added that a white paper be made on black money stashed away in tax havens abroad.

OneIndia News