Chhapra:
The 84-year-old LK Advani is off on his sixth yatra; he will travel over 7000 km, through 23 states in 38 days. He began from Sitab Diara in Chhapra, where he arrived in a helicopter and was greeted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
On stage with him before he set off on his journey, on the birth anniversary of socialist leader Jaya Prakash Narayan, were Nitish Kumar and senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, among others. Mr Kumar flagged off the yatra and his participation helps Mr Advani prove that among allies of his party, he is the preferred public face of the BJP. Mr Kumar has in the past barred the BJP's Narendra Modi from campaigning in Bihar, mainly because Mr Modi has been accused of complicity in the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat
At the Chhapra airstrip, where a large stage had been erected, Mr Kumar said "I welcome Advaniji because he decided to start his anti-corruption yatra from Bihar, from Jaya Prakash Narayan's birthplace," He also used the opportunity to highlight the JD(U)-BJP government's achievements in Bihar. He then wished the senior BJP leader bon voyage and invited him to return to Sitab Diara to celebrate the success of his yatra.
Mr Advani returned the favour - hailed Nitish Kumar's governance. He then promised a landmark yatra that would create awareness, duly attacked the UPA government at the Centre saying it was taking the country backwards and, hands folded, said he was setting off on his yatra. Mr Advani is traveling to Patna first; he will then cross over into neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Advani's new yatra is devoted to fighting corruption - though how his journey across roughly 7000 kilometres in 23 states will accomplish that is not entirely clear. "There has been a rise in public anger and there is no doubt that the reason for such anger is the governance of the UPA," he said yesterday. For weeks, the BJP has alleged that the union government, mangled by a series of financial scams, will not last its term. And as the BJP hits campaign mode, Mr Advani is first off the block.
The BJP leader has so far been non-committal about whether he sees himself as his party's candidate for Prime Minister in the next general elections. Mr Modi, who has been keen to promote himself to the national centrestage, was reportedly so upset with Mr Advani's positioning plans, that he said the yatra could not begin from Gujarat. In the last few days, however, a truce has been managed, mainly because Mr Advani and he have found common ground in their opposition to Sanjay Joshi.
Removed from the party in 2005 over an MMS scandal, Mr Joshi was reinducted into the BJP in August this year. Mr Advani has reportedly told BJP President Nitin Gadkari to take into account Mr Modi's grim resistance to the re-entry of Mr Joshi. However, Mr Gadkari and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which is the BJP's parent body, believe that Mr Joshi's noted organizational skills are key for the party as it gears up for elections.
Burying differences, Mr Modi wrote in overt support of Mr Advani's yatra on his blog. He also said of his bete noire Nitish Kumar, who seems to have scored politically as he hosted Mr Advani for the beginning of his yatra, "Once a chief minister of Bihar had stopped a yatra of Advaniji. It is a matter of immense pleasure that today, the CM of the same state is flagging off Advaniji's Yatra."
In 1990, then Bihar CM Lalu Yadav had stopped Mr Advani's rath yatra and had him arrested. Today the Mr Yadav seemed miffed at being upstaged by Mr Advani and Mr Kumar at claiming JP's legacy. The former Bihar Chief Minister, who had his own 'padyatra', was scathing in his criticism of Nitish Kumar saying "he has betrayed Jaya Prakash."
During his yatra, Mr Advani will address rallies, interact with party workers and mingle with supporters. His 'rath' is crafted by none other than Dilip Chhabria, the czar of designer cars. It has a hydraulic platform, a high-tech audio system, all sorts of communication gadgets and enough space to sit and plan. And unlike his past yatras, this one has a theme song too.
But this time, the most prolific yatri of Indian politics will be watched more by his own party and its ideological fountainhead. The RSS wants Mr Advani to relinquish his Prime Ministerial aspirations and focus on mentoring younger leaders.