Advani’s 40-day Jan Chetna Yatra concludes in Delhi?

War on corruption  and black money take a decisive turn?

By Pramod Kumar?

With a call to continue the fight against corruption and black money till the countrymen are not convinced and satisfied that corruption will completely be eradicated and black money stashed away abroad will be brought back, the 40 day Jan Chetan Yatra of BJP patriarch Shri LK Advani concluded in New Delhi on November 20.

The historic Ramlila Grounds was packed to its capacity when Shri Advani reached at 12.40 pm after traversing 7,600 km in 22 States and 5 Union Territories. The yatra had begun from Sitab Diara, the birth place of  Shri Jaiprakash Naraian in Bihar, on October 11.

Earlier, Shri Advani received rousing welcome on entering Delhi through Ghazipur border. Amidst the beats of the drums, women BJP workers from bordering rural areas extended traditional welcome and performed folk music and songs. The entire route from Ghazipur to Ramlila Grounds was packed with party flags, banners, posters, hoardings and enthusiastic party workers showering flower petals and shouting slogans. It took about three hours for the yatra to reach Ramlila Grounds. The scene at Ramlila Grounds was quite cheerful, as over 50,000 party workers thronged there to support the campaign of Shri Advani.

Many prominent BJP and NDA leaders were present to welcome Shri Advani. The BJP leaders included national president Shri Nitin Gadkari, former party presidents Shri M Venkaiah Naidu and Shri Rajnath Singh, Leaders of Opposition in  the Lok Sabha and  the Rajya Sabha Smt Sushma Swaraj Shri Shri Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary Shri Ananth Kumar, Shri Vijay Goel, Spokesperson Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, former Chairperson of Rajya Sabha Dr Najma Heptullah, MP Navajot Singh Sidhu, Shri SS Ahluwalia, Mayor of Delhi Prof Ranji Abbi, Delhi BJP president Vijendra Gupta, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, etc. NDA convener and JD(U) president Shri Sharad Yadav, Shri Anant Geete of Shiv Sena, Republican Party of India’s Shri Ramdas Athavale, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa’s emissary M Thambidurai, Akali Dal Delhi State president Shri Manjeet Singh were also present.

As Shri Advani entered Ramlila Grounds, the cheerful workers who included a large number of women and youth also, welcomed him with slogans like Viksit desh banayenge, bhrashtachar mitayenge, desh ki janata kare pukar, nahin sahenge bhrashtachar, Congress jab jab aayi hai, bhrashtachar lai hai, etc.

In his speech Shri Advani set the agenda for winter session of  the Parliament by announcing that all 215 NDA MPs would tender an undertaking before the Parliament declaring that they have no illegal assets or bank accounts in India or abroad. This announcement put the Congress in difficult situation. Shri Advani also gave a call to oust the UPA government saying a situation has arisen for a change of regime.

He denounced the Congress-led UPA Government for not responding to the issue of black money and said despite their continuous persuasion, the Government did not provide information on black money stashed in various foreign accounts of Indians, including  the three Members of  the Parliament. “We have also asked the Government to issue a White Paper in this regard but it all went in vain. The kind of support, the yatra has received in the last 40 days shows that people of this country want the truth to come out,” he said.

Saying that a strong anti-corruption law alone would not eradicate corruption, it requires determination, Shri Advani said, “No doubt, corruption can be controlled with the law but it cannot eradicate it completely. We need Lokpal and it should not only be strong and effective but there should also be political will, which the present Government lacks. He said the decision to go for the yatra was taken when the two former BJP MPs and some leaders were arrested in the cash-for-vote scam. Shri Advani said that it is quite ridiculous that, “Those who were the whistle-blowers and exposed the Government were arrested.”

Shri Nitin Gadkari sought an apology from the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for sending the whistle-blowers to jail. “On whose order, they were imprisoned. Why is no action taken against you (Congress) when you are also indulged in corrupt practices?” he said. Citing the judgement of Delhi High Court, he said hearing the bail petition the court has observed that prime facie there is no evidence of illegal graft against all of them.

Smt Sushma Swaraj blamed wrong policies of the UPA government for rising prices and accused the Prime Minister of leading the most corrupt Government in history. Describing yatra as the most effective medium to contact people, she said those who claim that there is no need to use such mediums in this IT age, do not understand India. She said their fight against corruption will continue from streets to the Parliament.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Shri Arun Jaitley said the Congress-led UPA Government was facing leadership crisis, which has led to the erosion of credibility and goodwill of the Government. He said under the leadership of Shri Advani and the NDA the people would oust the UPA government.

NDA convener and JD(U) president Shri Sharad Yadav said the awful governance and ineffective leadership landed the country in trouble. “Under the regime of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the entire nation is restive, helpless and distressed,” he said.

AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa sent her special emissary Shri M Thambidurai for extending support to Shri Advani. Congratulating Advaniji for raising the issue of corruption she said, “We hope that all like-minded political parties would get together in raising the issue of corruption against the UPA and help give good governance to the people of the country.”

RPI leader Shri Ramdas Athavale said Advaniji has exhorted the entire nation against the growing corruption under UPA government. “On behalf of Dalits, the RPI congratulates Shri Advani for undertaking this campaign,” he said. Shri Anant Geete of Shiv Sena said his party is with the BJP in the fight against corruption and black money. Shri Manjit Singh of Akali Dal said even the Britishers and other invaders did not cause so much damage to India as has been caused by the Congress during the last five decades.?