Advani denied permission for rally in U P
Mangalore Today / PTI
New Delhi, Oct 12: Day two of LK Advani’s 38-day Jan Chetna Yatra, and there is already a showdown over it. Mr Advani has been denied permission for his rally at Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh.
Government sources say the Railways have refused permission for the rally at the Mughalsarai Railway Ground. The BJP accuses the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of blocking their yatra.
The BJP says they had permission to conduct the rally four days ago, and will protest the sudden cancellation of permission. The party also says they will go ahead with the rally as planned, even if the police tries to stop them.
The 84-year-old BJP leader is on his sixth yatra; he will travel over 7000 kilometres through 23 states. He began from Sitab Diara, Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan’s birthplace, in Chhapra yesterday. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off his journey.
Mr Advani’s latest yatra is devoted to fighting corruption. "For 18 months corruption has been an issue; why not a yatra on that?" he asked, as he launched another attack on the UPA government at the Centre on the issue of black money in foreign banks. 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 and many, including the Sangh Parivar’s parent organisation, the RSS, are watching keenly to see how the senior leader will position himself politically in the next few days.
Most look upon the yatra as Mr Advani throwing his hat in the ring for the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate in the next General Elections. The RSS wants Mr Advani to relinquish his Prime Ministerial aspirations and focus on mentoring younger leaders. Interacting with the media early on Wednesday morning at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, Mr Advani was asked who would be the party’s candidate for Prime Minister in the next general elections and if he would accept the responsibility if the party decides so. But he continued to be non-committal, merely saying, "The party decides who is the choice for PM. Not an individual."
And when asked what he thought of the much-feted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a candidate for PM, Mr Advani would again only say that his party and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that it led, would decide. He did, however, say that, "there is little doubt that the NDA will win the next election."
Mr Advani’s travels will take him through Bihar and into Uttar Pradesh today. 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.