Eye on ’14, LK resumes yatra politics
Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani is at it again. In an apparent bid to project himself as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general polls, Mr Advani has decided to resume yatra politics all over again.
Trounced in the last general elections, Mr Advani, who was the saffron brigade’s prime ministerial nominee, intends to take a shot at it all over again, much to the chagrin of a majority section in the saffron camp. They feel “Advani is a spent force” and “projecting him will not cut any ice among the voters.”
It could be mentioned that an internal report of the party, analysing 2009 poll debacle, had blamed BJP’s PM’s choice as one of the main reasons for its humiliating defeat.
However, Mr Advani and some of his close associates differ. According to them, “Advani is still BJP’s face” and the yatra, to be carried out on “corruption plank, will give Advani the platform to bounce back as BJP’s credible face.”
Mr Advani, known as the saffron hawk, is expected to kick off his nationwide yatra before the Winter Session of Parliament. Details are yet to be worked out. He has informed of his grand plan to BJP chief, Mr Nitin Gadkari, who nodded in agreement.
The next move is to call a meeting of the top party brass and plan accordingly. So far, he wants to start his start his yatra by the end of this or the beginning of next month. Mr Advani also intends to take a break during Diwali, since people “will be in a holiday mood.”
Mr Advani said he was “forced” to announce his proposed yatra after two “whistleblower” former MPs of the party were arrested by the Delhi police in cash-for-vote scam and Lok Sabha Speaker sought Attorney-general’s suggestion on a third sitting MP named in the case. He said the scam is the “worst scandal” in the Independent India which “sullied” the Indian political system.
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