Advani's yatra enters Karnataka today

Bangalore: BJP leader LK Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra is entering Karnataka today. According to party sources,Mr  Advani, who is expected to reach Bangalore late in the afternoon, will address a public meeting at the National College Grounds in the evening.

Police have thrown a tight security cover in the wake of detection of a powerful pipe bomb near Madurai on Friday, where he started the second leg of his yatra.

The yatra will travel through the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada on October 31 and November 1 and enter Goa.

Mr Advani will also address public rallies at Mangalore, Udupi, Kumata and Honnavara.

Karnataka is a BJP-ruled state and in the wake of the arrest of former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa in connection with the land scam, there was speculation that the senior BJP leader might skip Karnataka leg of his anti-corruption yatra. But Mr Advani had last week clarified that his trip to the city is on schedule.

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State BJP leaders were engaged in hectic preparations to welcome the yatra on Saturday, but the enthusiasm was considerably dampened after the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, who is facing allegations of denotifying land in violation of rules.

Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, credited with installing the first-ever BJP government in the South after the 2008 Assembly election, is already in jail.

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In a development that would cause further embarrassment to the saffron party, BJP MLA Y Sampangi was sent to jail on Friday by a local court, which cancelled his bail after he was found guilty of threatening witnesses in a corruption case against him.

Home Minister R Ashoka Irani is also in trouble after the Lokayukta court ordered a probe on a private complaint alleging the minister's involvement in illegal denotification of land.

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Questions were being raised on the Karnataka leg of Mr Advani's yatra after supporters of BS Yeddyurappa objected to his comments in Nagpur earlier this month. The senior BJP leader had said that Yeddyurappa had been cautioned in advance but when the Lokayukta report came out he had to resign immediately.

Mr Advani had said, "We never take any party weakness lightly and we proved the same in Karnataka. We are fully aware of the fact that no party can effectively win the confidence of the people against the present corruption of the Congress party if its own house is bedeviled with similar weaknesses."

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The BJP realised that in the wake of Yeddyurappa's arrest, and objections raised by his supporters, the party's anti-corruption crusade could be seriously dented. Moreover, many in the party felt that if Mr Advani goes to Bangalore, the corruption in the state BJP government would become the focus instead of corruption in the UPA government against which the party has been raising its voice over the past few months.