Advani begins 'Bharat Suraksha Yatra'

     Rajkot (Gujarat): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Lal Krishna Advani began his nation-wide procession to regain grassroots support for the beleaguered party. Advani's chariot ride to Ayodhya in 1990 for the construction of Ram temple on the site of 16th century Mosque had triggered dangerous sentiments with supporters eventually pulling down the mosque, two years later. The incident had sparked one of the worst communal violence, which claimed over 3000 lives. "Sixteen years back when I began the procession from Somnath to Ayodhya, that procession had affected politics and my own life. Today is a similar day when I begin the National Security Procession again from Gujarat," Advani told reporters at Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, whose blessing he sought before beginning the process. In a last ditch attempt the party is taking ruling Congress head on accusing it of having thrown up doors to Islamic extremists and ignored development issue. "Today this procession is not just against terrorism. Protection should be not just from terrorism, protection must be from poverty, protection must be from bad governance, protection should be many faceted," Advani said referring to the gist of his national security march. While attacking on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Advani said "Isn't this India-American nuclear deal a surrender? They are putting restrictions on India's nuclearisation." "Those who think of the country's security, its defence are required to have both longer and short-term visions," he added. He also attacked Congress over the Volcker report in which the party and former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh were named as illegal beneficiaries of Iraq's oil-for-food programme. "Congress found a scapegoat (Singh). The External Affairs Minister resigned but nothing happened to the Congress, which too was named in the Volcker report," Advani said adding "this Congress administration is neck-deep in corruption."

     Advani's 6,000 kilometres long yatra is also seen as an attempt by the former Deputy Prime Minister to re-establish himself within the party after his resignation in December 2005 following a rift with the Sangh Parivar on the Jinnah issue. Advani will cover Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana before concluding the yatra in Delhi on May 10. Party president Rajnath Singh also began his yatra from Orissa after paying obeisance to Lord Jagannath in Puri. Both the yatras will conclude in Delhi on May 10.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top