Patna: The top Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is all set to play host to party patriarch L.K. Advani who will be kicking off his much-hyped rath yatra (chariot tour) against corruption from Bihar tomorrow.
"Preparations are on in full swing and the entire party organisation is busy making the two days [in Bihar] of the 38 day-long yatra a historic event," Bihar state BJP president Dr C.P. Thakur told media yesterday. Advani will be spending two days in Bihar during which he will address six big rallies before entering Uttar Pradesh.
His tour will cover a distance of 7,600 kilometres across 23 states and four union territories.
Top BJP leaders are stationed at Chapra, the district headquarters town of Saran, overseeing the arrangements for the tour known as "Jan Chetna Yatra" or Mass Awareness Campaign against corruption.
Officials said hundreds of welcome arches were being erected along the tour routes to extend a warm reception to the BJP stalwart who has chosen Bihar to start his tour this time.
However, some minor changes have been made in the tour schedule. It was scheduled to be flagged off by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Sitab Diara, the birthplace of the late leader Jayprakash Narayan. But due to waterlogging, the venue has been shifted to Chapra.
Apprehension
Incidentally, Chapra is the home parliamentary constituency of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad who had the BJP veteran arrested in 1990 in Bihar while the latter was leading his rath yatra to garner people's support for construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Although the opposition parties in the state are apprehensive of this tour as it could disturb communal harmony, the BJP leadership has announced that it could turn into a "oust-Congress" crusade.
"There is a strong anti-Congress wave blowing across the country and the yatra might convert into a movement for change of the government at the centre," BJP national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told a press conference on Saturday.
He said that all the allies of the central government were already in a mood to desert the ship which is sinking.
"Preparations are on in full swing and the entire party organisation is busy making the two days [in Bihar] of the 38 day-long yatra a historic event," Bihar state BJP president Dr C.P. Thakur told media yesterday. Advani will be spending two days in Bihar during which he will address six big rallies before entering Uttar Pradesh.
His tour will cover a distance of 7,600 kilometres across 23 states and four union territories.
Top BJP leaders are stationed at Chapra, the district headquarters town of Saran, overseeing the arrangements for the tour known as "Jan Chetna Yatra" or Mass Awareness Campaign against corruption.
Officials said hundreds of welcome arches were being erected along the tour routes to extend a warm reception to the BJP stalwart who has chosen Bihar to start his tour this time.
However, some minor changes have been made in the tour schedule. It was scheduled to be flagged off by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Sitab Diara, the birthplace of the late leader Jayprakash Narayan. But due to waterlogging, the venue has been shifted to Chapra.
Apprehension
Incidentally, Chapra is the home parliamentary constituency of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad who had the BJP veteran arrested in 1990 in Bihar while the latter was leading his rath yatra to garner people's support for construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Although the opposition parties in the state are apprehensive of this tour as it could disturb communal harmony, the BJP leadership has announced that it could turn into a "oust-Congress" crusade.
"There is a strong anti-Congress wave blowing across the country and the yatra might convert into a movement for change of the government at the centre," BJP national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told a press conference on Saturday.
He said that all the allies of the central government were already in a mood to desert the ship which is sinking.
