Yatra Live: Nitish Kumar flags off Advani's rath yatra

3.16pm: Forget the 4pm Patna deadline. The whole programme is running behind schedule. Looks like the chariot won’t reach the Bihar capital before late evening where Advani would address the third rally of the day. Lots of impromptu public meetings expected. Keeping aside politics, it may be fun to ride on the rath for a while.

3.15pm: The lotus flags flutters under the Chhapra sky. People waving and cheering Advani and other leaders atop the modified chariot. For an 83-year-old man embarking on his sixth rath yatra this is not an easy choice keeping in mind the physical and mental it requires.

3.10pm: Nitish Kumar flags off the yatra. All senior BJP leaders have boarded the rath (chariot). A raised platform made for Advani in the chariot to enable him to greet people.

2.40pm: LK Advani speaks at Chhapra:

• Compares former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad with incumbent Nitish Kumar. • Nitish Kumar brought welcome change in Bihar • Praises the chief minister for his presence in the rally • People are now standing up against rampant corruption. • Yatra message to the people to urge them not to tolerate corruption • ‘Enough is enough’ - this is the attitude of people against the corrupt UPA government. • Honesty and morality should be the working principal for everyone in politics and other fields to wipe out corruption. • India will rise as the numero uno country in future.

2.00pm: Sushma Swaraj speaks at Chhapra, Bihar:

• Slams UPA government • Government wrong in jailing whistleblowers

11.55am: Key points from LK Advani’s speech —

• Time not to change the system, not just the government • Corruption is eroding faith in democracy and governance • Yatra will create awareness about corruption among people • Good governance needed for development • Sacrifices made by freedom fighters would have been in vain if people continue to suffer

• Criticises the erstwhile Lalu Prasad regime for not developing Bihar in a 15-year period of governance • In 1998, when I came to Bihar I was shocked at the poor affairs of the state. • UPA has disappointed the country since 2008. • People are fed up of corruption • Remembers Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan for his efforts to clean the country from corruptions. • Sitab Diara was chosen after much thought. • The BJP will raise issues like Lokpal, Judicial Accountability and other bills concerning the comfort of the public in the Winter Session of the Parliament • Sushma Swaraj (Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha) and Arun Jaitley (Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha) are doing a commendable job. • Thanks Nitish Kumar for allowing to start the yatra from Sitab Diara and agreeing to flag off the yatra.

QUICK INFO: Patna rally at 4pm

11.55am: Key points from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s speech —

• I am here to welcome LK Advani. Happy that his yatra is starting from Bihar’s soil. • Governance is key to removing difficulties suffered by the people • Praises Advani’s fight against corruption • It is time someone takes the responsibility to fight the menace of black money. • I am supporting Advani not just by words but by my work. • Yatra will raise public awareness regarding corruption • Invites Advani to Sitab Diara after he completes his yatra

11.40am: BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who is also the manager for the yatra addresses the crowd. All major BJP leaders and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are sharing the dais with Advani.

‘Rath’ info: The ‘rath’ is crafted by Dilip Chhabria , an expert in designing cars. The rath has a hydraulic platform, a high-tech audio system, different communication gadgets and enough space to sit and plan.

11.35am: Formal ceremony starts at Sitab Diara .

**11.25am:**Sitab Diara is the birth place of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan.

11.15am: Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anurag Singh Thakur: “Advani is the cleanest politician in India. Yatra a fight against corruption and not for poll gains.”

11.00am: Advani and other senior BJP leaders besides Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are on way to Chhapra to kickoff yatra.

10.50am: Senior BJP leader LK Advani arrives at Sitab Diara. Takes chopper from Patna. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will flag off the Jan Chetna Yatra.

PTI adds:

Advan is also accompanied by his daughter Pratibha Advani. Visited the ancestral house of late Jai Prakash Narayan and garlanded his statue.

Reaches Gandhi Maidan at Sitab Diara, from where Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra is to roll out, paid floral tributes to the departed Lok Nayak.

10.15am: Advani, accompanied by Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, the leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, arrive in Patna via chartered plane from Delhi.

From PTI Advani is scheduled to address a public meeting at Chappra and proceed by road to Patna where he would be addressing another rally in the evening.

During his yatra, Advani will stay in Bihar for two days and will be addressing meetings at Ara and Buxar on Wednesday before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Jan Chetna Yatra Schedule (Source: BJP)

Theme Song of Jan Chetna Yatra (Source: BJP)

Jan Chetna Yatra map (Source: BJP)

Background

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who begins his 38-day rath yatra (chariot journey) from Bihar today, has reached Patna. His Jan Chetna Yatra will focus primarily on black money stashed away in foreign banks.

Coming down heavily on the UPA government at the Centre, Advani said in a press meet on Monday in New Delhi, “UPA’s inability to deliver has forced people to lose their faith in the political system.”

“People are angry due to inflation and corruption,” the BJP leader said in the New Delhi press meet. Flanked by Leaders of Oppostion from both the Houses, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Advani said, “The sending of the BJP whistleblowers to jail in the cash-for-votes scam is a blot on morality and democracy.”

The BJP leader, who is starting his yatra on the 109th birth anniversary of Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan, said, “The government has been shying away from releasing the names who have money in tax havens abroad because names of important people are on that list. Even the Enforcement Directorate has information about it. The Income-Tax Department has been asked to conduct a silent investigation.”

Advani demanded a white paper on the steps taken from the government to tackle the menace of black money.

The BJP leader attempted to strike a concert with Team Anna saying that his party would strive to pass effective laws in the Parliament to check corruption in the judiciary besides a strong Lokpal. He also spoke about electoral reforms.

“Money power and criminalisation in polls are biggest challenges for electoral reforms. We did some reforms when we were in power but lots remain to be done,” Advani said.

In an apparent show of bonhomie to bury the recent bad press on his relationship with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leader said Modi would welcome the yatra in Gujarat. The yatra will also cover the North-Eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The BJP leader is not a stranger to rath yatras.

Advani came into political limelight during the Ram Temple movement that was started by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The movement drew a new impetus when Advani undertook his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra, finally leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992.

As Deputy Prime Minister during the NDA regime, Advani embarked on another yatra just before the 2004 general polls on the ‘India Shining’ motto but could not take the party to poll victory. He undertook another yatra in 2006 but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was not sure of his intentions.

Despite this flurry of yatras, Advani always remained second fiddle to charismatic BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His dream of becoming the Prime Minister of the country is still to see the light of the day.