New Delhi:
For days, BJP leader LK Advani has been travelling around the country on his whirlwind yatra against corruption. In every rally, he is repeatedly targetting the UPA government on various scams.
But what seems to be taking the steam out of his rath yatra, is the arrest of former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on corruption charges. Mr Advani has not made a single reference to Yeddyurappa's arrest, choosing to maintain a rather obvious silence.
In the last two days, Mr Advani's two press conferences in Hoshangabad and Chhindwara (both in Madhya Pradesh) have been cancelled. The party says he doesn't want to speak to the media for the moment. But is it just a way to avoid answering probing and embarrassing questions over Yeddyurappa?
Other senior leaders in the BJP seem to have taken their cue from Advani.
"The BJP Parliamentary Board took a decision the moment Lokayukta report came that he must resign," said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"There is no place in BJP for those who want to indulge in corruption, they are not welcome," party president Nitin Gadkari said.
But while the leaders at the Centre are keeping their distance, state leaders are making their support apparent.
The timing of Yeddyuruppa's arrest could not be worse for the BJP coming as it does a week into the yatra.
The party is in a clear dilemma - should it back the Lingayat leader, its tallest Southern figure? Or keep him at a distance? Their only defence: Yeddyurappa was asked to step down.
"BJP adopts a zero tolerance towards corruption. When the Lokayukta report came out in Karnataka, BJP took its decision not in days, but in hours," party spokesperson Shannawaz Hussain said.
Yeddyurappa is now in hospital, but he remains in judicial custody. And the BJP fears this may be more enduring than of its big comeback yatra.