Bihar Opp out to oppose Advani's chariot

Patna: The ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar has declared all support to BJP veteran LK Advani's proposed rath yatra (chariot tour) against corruption, a day after the chief minister Nitish Kumar agreed to flag off this yatra.

Advani is to start his country-wide campaign against corruption from Bihar on October 11. BJP is the junior alliance partner in the JD-U-led National Democratic Alliance government.

Previously, Advani's yatra was being viewed with much suspicion by the JD-U leadership which had even unofficially decided to stay away from this programme, describing it as a purely BJP function. In the past, Advani had been taking out his yatras from Somnath or other such places in the country but this was for the first time that he chose Bihar over Gujarat for his yatra.

"Now that the chief minister himself is supporting it and has announced to flag off Mr Advani's yatra, its but natural for the JD-U activists to lend their support. After all, this yatra is against corruption against which our party has already declared a war", the state JD-U president Vashishth Narayan Singh told reporters on Tuesday.

The move follows the extensive behind-the-curtain patch-up efforts by the BJP leaders who hurriedly went into the trouble-shooting mode after the JD-U leadership reacted sharply to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's recent three-day goodwill fast in Ahmadabad which was linked to Modi's candidature for the country's top slot.

On Monday, the senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely landed in Patna and held a meeting with the chief minister Kumar. He also attended his weekly programme nicknamed "Chief Minister at the People's Court". Soon after the meeting, Jaitely hugely eulogised Kumar saying Bihar under him had emerged as a "role model" of development across India.

Now that the JD-U has announced all support to Advani's yatra, the BJP has got overactive to make its party programme a grand success. However, the BJP faces the daunting task of attracting good support from the masses since it comes close on the heels of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare's 10-day long fast against graft.

As per the plan being worked by the BJP, Advani is set to hold at least four rallies in Bihar soon after his rath yatra is flagged off by the Bihar chief minister on October 11. His yatra will begin from Sitabdiyaya, the birth place of legendry Jayprakah Narayan who led the country against corruption in the 1970's and finally brought down India Gandhi government.

Earlier, the chief minister who himself has announced to go on "service trip" to all districts across Bihar from the first week of November, was keeping silence over the issue but latter agreed to flag off Advani's yatra after the BJP president Nitin Gadkari called him and requested him to do.

"I have taken the decision (to flag off the yatra) on the request of BJP president Nitisn Gadkari", Kumar has said adding it was good that this yatra against corruption was being launched from Bihar. He added, "I will be there at Sitabdiyara on October 11.we are supporting the rath yatra".

However, not everyone is happy with Advani's yatra. Almost every Opposition parties in Bihar, such as the RJD, the Congress, Communist Party of India

(Marxist-Leninist) and Nationalist Congress Party have asked the Kumar to stop Advani's yatra stating that it was an attempt to disturb communal harmony.

The RJD which is the main Opposition party in Bihar has even announced to take out a march to Raj Bhawan ~ the official residence of Bihar governor~ on October 11 to protest Advani's rath yatra.