Yatra seen as attempt by Advani to present himself as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.
While senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani tries to capture centre-stage with his proposed yatra, there is reluctance within the party leadership. And, differences have arisen on the route Advani should take or the date from when he should start his tour.
After hours of long meetings of senior leaders and party functionaries, the party is divided on whether Advani should start on September 25, birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay and also the date when Advani had started his event-making rath yatra on the Ayodhya temple in 1990. BJP leaders are also discussing October 2, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and October 11, of Jayaprakash Narayan, who had led the opposition to unseat Indira Gandhi.
There is division, too, on the issue to be raised. Advani wants the tour to concentrate on good governance and clean politics. Some party seniors have suggested anti-corruption as the main focus, because of the corruption allegations surrounding the UPA government.
A large section within the leadership was unhappy with the sudden decision of Advani to start a yatra. It is being seen as yet another attempt to present himself as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP (although it and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had collectively decided not to name any leader for the top post during the 2014 general elections.
Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha; Arun Jaitley, her Rajya Sabha counterpart and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi are also in the race.
Interestingly, after three long meetings of the party leadership, Advani has decided to name Ananth Kumar, general secretary, as convener of his yatra. Advani has decided on Kumar because his seniority in the party would enable him to coordinate with other leaders. Also, Kumar is a confidante.
The leadership is also in two minds over the route Advani should take. Although senior leaders representing Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have suggested Advani must come to these states because of the assembly elections in 2012, a section is not in favour. According to party members, the yatra could cover 6,000 km.
