Advani to embark on another yatra

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief LK Advani seems to have perfected the technique of hitting the road whenever a prickly situation troubles him. His solution to most woes including his present post-Jinnah hubris is to take the road.

The BJP has charted a year-long countrywide tour programme for Advani, ostensibly to continue its 25th anniversary celebrations and also to mark the 30th anniversary of the Emergency.

While some BJP leaders have dubbed the journey the Qaid-e-Azam Yatra, the tour will give Advani an opportunity to reconnect with workers and hopefully draw a curtain over the controversy generated by his remarks on Pakistan foun-der Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Advani will be starting his yatra from Lakhanpur in Jammu and Kashmir where Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee courted arrest while protesting against the then permit system to enter the state.

On June 25, he will be returning to Delhi, to address a meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the Emergency imposed in 1975 by Indira Gandhi.

The party plans to exploit the anniversary to show up what they call the contempt of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government towards the Opposition. It was "similar to that prevalent during the Emergency," said a senior BJP leader.

After that, Advani will visit Bangalore, again to address a meeting on the Emergency.

The yatra will be interrupted because of the three-day BJP national executive meeting, starting in Chennai on July 15. After the meeting, it will be resumed.

The yatra assume significance because of the new direction that he wants to give to the BJP. However, unlike his previous Ram Mandir and Bharat Uday yatra, Advani will not be travelling by road.

"His speeches at these programmes are going to be loaded with meaning as he will try to explain his vision for the party," said a senior party leader.

Advani has indicated that like Arjuna in the Mahabharata, he will stand by his conviction, regardless of the opposition.

Simply put, he was cocking a snook at the RSS and the VHP, which are baying for his blood over the Jinnah remarks.

"This is his opportunity to tell party workers that they have a future with him, and that the direction that the RSS wants the party to go will not result in the BJP coming back to power," said a BJP leader.