Senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Tuesday attacked the Congress-led UPA-II, accusing it of having lost the trust of the people soon after he kick-started his sixth Rath Yatra from Bihar’s Sitab Diara.
In the same breath, Advani lauded Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who flagged off the 38-day Jan Chetna Yatra, for the turnaround of the state. “Today there is a deficit of trust. Especially in the last three years, the situation has deteriorated considerably. There has been scams after scams and the government is doing nothing. People of this country are now fed up with corruption. It is the time for a change,” said Advani.
The veteran leader reached Patna at 10.30 in the morning with his family members and senior party leaders and got into a waiting chopper for Sitab Diara, the birth place of socialist leader Jay Prakash .
At the helipad in the small village of Saran District, he was welcomed by Kumar and several other leaders. “I received the inspiration for this Yatra from the work carried by JP, so this had to begin from his birth place,” he said, adding “This situation must end. For this there should not be just a change in leadership, but also a change in the system. People today need good governance and clean politics.”
“The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has always provided this to the people. We have given a good and clean government to the people of India. Even today, we are in power in nine states and the governance in these states is considered to be the best.”
Slamming the UPA government for poor governance and corruption, he accused the Manmohan Singh government of using all means to stay in power. “The party at the Centre is trying to remain in power by corruption. We will continue to corner the government in the winter session of Parliament. Leaders of Opposition in both the Houses are doing excellent work. I assure you that we will continue to raise the issues of black money, Lokpal and corruption.”
He applauded the Bihar chief minister for the development in Bihar at a rally in Chhapra. “I had worked with him, when the NDA was in power. The day Nitish took the reins of Bihar in 2005, I knew he would bring in a sea change in the state. Bihar is a perfect example of how good governance can lead to development.”
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Kumar, whose reluctance to share the dais with the hard-liner faction of the BJP is well known, on Tuesday welcomed Advani and gave his whole hearted support to his Rath Yatra.
Kumar said: “Today people are fed up with corruption. They are not ready to withstand it anymore and those who are in power must understand it.”
“We have taken strong measures to stop corruption in the state and now they are giving results. I give my full support to this yatra. I also want to thank Advanijee for choosing the birthplace of JP to begin his quest against corruption and black money.”