New Delhi, March 2
In an apparent move to counter Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s “roadshow” and sustain the party’s “feel good” campaign, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani will embark on “Bharat Uday Yatra” (India Shining Rally), criss-crossing the country from March 10.

The 77-year-old BJP strongman ‘Sardar Patel II’, will begin his 33-day yatra, divided into two phases, on March 10 from Kanyakumari and cover about 8,000 km spread over 121 Lok Sabha constituencies in several states. The first leg of the yatra will conclude on March 26 in Amritsar.

The second phase of the yatra will be launched on March 30 from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat and culminate in Puri, Orissa, on April 14, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar, Mr Advani told newspersons here today.

BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu will flag off the yatra at Kanyakumari while Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will receive it at Amritsar. Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani will then visit the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir.

The four-day break in the yatra will be used by him to file his nominations, Mr Advani said.

Mr Advani is scheduled to cover Ayodhya on April 5 in the second leg of the yatra.

This will be the fourth major yatra to be undertaken by Mr Advani, who was instrumental in creating a popular wave for the BJP by embarking on his firstever and famous “Ram Rath Yatra” from Somnath to Ayodhya between September 25, and October 30, 1990, in the backdrop of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement.

The other two yatras undertaken by the number two leader of the BJP were “Suraj Yatra” in 1996 and “Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra” in 1997.

Mr Advani, who was flanked by general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and M.A. Naqvi, however, dismissed suggestions that the yatra was aimed at catapulting him to the number one position.

It was an exercise to seek a renewed mandate for the BJP-led NDA under the leadership of Mr Vajpayee, he said.

“You were wrong then, you are wrong even today,” he said when asked whether it was an attempt to catapult him to the number one position.

To another question whether the yatra was to project him as “lauh purush” (Iron Man), Mr Advani merely said the BJP was a party with a difference under the “able and capable” leadership of Mr Vajpayee.

Maintaining that the basic thrust of his campaign would be on “development”, Mr Advani said an effort would be made to trigger a debate on the performance of the Vajpayee government in five years and the Congress’ performance during its 50-year rule.

He, however, tried to underplay the foreign origin issue.

Disagreeing with a view that his first yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya could not realise the aim of constructing a Ram temple, Mr Advani said the resolution of the Ayodhya imbroglio was best “possible and feasible” by reaching an agreement between the two principal communities and it “is going to come about.”

Asserting that the incumbency factor was not a liability but an asset for the Vajpayee-led NDA government, Mr Advani said the BJP-led government under the leadership of Mr Vajpayee had been able to shatter to pieces the myth created by the Congress that only it could give a stable government at the Centre.

“In 1998, people voted for stability. In 1999, it was for continuity. In the coming elections, they will vote for performance,” Mr Advani said.

Talking to newsmen here, he said the Congress had departed from its basic principles. He was sidelined in the party and his “seniority was not recognised”.

Mr Bangarappa, who received unanimous support from his supporters at a meeting held in his home district of Shimoga earlier in the day, said he would hold consultations with other state leaders before finalising the date to join the BJP. The Shimoga meeting, while endorsing the decision to join the BJP, had authorised him to take necessary action to complete the process.