BJP Leader Advani begins 38-day 'Jan Chetna Yatra'

Sitabdiara (Bihar), Oct 11 (PTI) Senior leader of
opposition party BJP, L K Advani began his 38-day rally 'Jan
Chetna Yatra' on Tuesday, from northern Indian state of Bihar,
to take on the UPA government on the corruption issue and
press for return of black money stashed away abroad.
"I am formally launching my Jan Chetna Yatra against
corruption and for bringing back black money stashed away
abroad," Advani said at a public meeting at Gandhi Maidan,
the starting point of the yatra which was flagged off by Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Advani praised veteran Indian socialist Jayprakash
Narayan, saying he had brought along all non-Congress parties-
other than the Communists- together against the "corrupt"
Congress government in the 1970s.
Drawing a parallel between the circumstances prevailing
then and now, Advani said, "Corruption should end in this
country. There should not just be a change of leadership but
also a change in the system.
"People have today lost faith in the potential that this
country has. The biggest achievement of this yatra would be to
restore that belief," he said.
Advani said the inspiration for this yatra had come
from the work carried out by Jayprakash Narayan.
The 84-year old leader also emphasized that the yatra
is aimed at good governance and clean politics, as also the
issues of Lokpal and for bringing back black money stashed
away abroad.
"The success of all the past movements have been in
creating awareness among the people," Advani said, adding both
the freedom struggle and Jayprakash movement had a similar aim
of educating the people about the atrocities of the British
and the corruption in Congress regime respectively.
The yatra will go through 23 states and four union
territories. Advani, who is undertaking his sixth yatra, will
visit the North-East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu,
Gujarat, the southern states as well as the poll-bound states
of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa.
Soon after his arrival from Patna by a chopper, Advani,
together with Nitish Kumar, his deputy S K Modi, Leaders of
Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and
Arun Jaitley respectively, visited the ancestral house of late
Jayaprakash Narayan and garlanded his statue.
Advani's rath-yatra will cover around 7,600 km and
nearly 100 districts across the country.
The senior leader said the 21st Century belonged to
India and "we should take a pledge to ensure that the country
emerges as one of the foremost nations in the world."
Advani also praised the Bihar Chief Minister, saying he
had brought about a sea-change in the state since the NDA
government came to power in 2005.
"I had only once requested him to flag-off the yatra and
he had readily agreed," Advani said.
In his speech, Kumar welcomed Advani for choosing
Jayprakash Narayan's birthplace and his birth anniversary for
starting his yatra against corruption. He enumerated the
various measures taken by his government to fight the menace.
He recalled that the JP movement had also started in
Bihar and said nobody had then thought that the Congress will
be voted out of power.
Extending support to Advani's yatra, Kumar said, "We
don't promise support only by words but also by deeds."
Swaraj and Jaitley were lauded by Advani for effectively
taking on the UPA government in Parliament not only on the
issue of corruption but also on other issues. PTI AJK
SHL