Advani, Rajnath yatra to cover 22 states

Seeking to put at rest the controversy over the National Integration Yatra announced in the wake of the Varanasi blasts by leader of the Opposition LK Advani, the BJP today announced the details of the programme.

The yatra will be undertaken by both LK Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh and they will cover 22 states between the two of them while carefully avoiding the four states and one union territory going to polls.

Advani would embark on the yatra from Dwarka in Gujarat and Rajnath Singh would commence the journey from Puri in Orissa on April 6. The yatra will end in Delhi on May 10, which is the 159th anniversary of the 1857 War of Independence.

Advani will be covering roughly 5,800 kms across 10 states""Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi""in 26 days, party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.

Singh would cover approximately 5,000 kms over 24 days in 22 states, including Orissa, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.

BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar would be accompanying Advani on his yatra while BJP Secretary Vijay Goel will be with party President Rajnath Singh.

"Yatras have been a way for establishing contact with the people since the vedic time and we cannot understand the reason why the opposition fears the worst. If they feel like undertaking a yatra themselves they are most welcome," said Naidu.

Naidu also announced that owing to the fact that Karnataka BJP chief Jagdish Shettar has been inducted into the state government as minister, Mangalore MP, DV Sadananda Gowda has been appointed state unit chief.

The BJP also announced 14 names for elections in West Bengal and 61 candidates for the elections in Assam.