New Delhi:
Marking the end of his 38-day Jan Chetna Yatra - a tour he dedicated to promoting clean governance - senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani today addressed a huge public rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.
He began by thanking the sea of supporters who had gathered there to greet him. "I have never seen such a huge gathering. I thank you all for the warm welcome," he said.
And then, without wasting much time, he got down to slamming the Congress-led UPA government. "This government is known as the most corrupt government. Corruption can go only by jan chetna (awakening of masses). If not by that, then only by change in government's rule," he said. He further added that while his yatra has ended, his "fight against corruption will go on."
In a show of strength at the rally, almost all top leaders of Advani's party including Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar were present at Ramlila Maidan. Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav, Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders also attended it.
Among others who shared the stage with Advani was cash-for-votes accused Sudheendra Kulkarni. Kulkarni, the alleged mastermind of the cash-for-votes scam, was Advani's former political advisor. He along with two former BJP MPs - Mahavir Singh Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste - were arrested in connection with the scam in September but are now out on bail. The saffron party maintains that the Congress tried to bribe MPs during the trust vote in 2008 and Kulkarni and the BJP MPs had only tried to expose this. "Various countries have laws that protect whistle-blowers. But under the current government, whistle-blowers are jailed while real culprits remain scot-free."
Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra began from Sitabdiara in Bihar, the native village of veteran socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, on October 11 and reached the national capital after covering 7000 km, 22 states and five union territories.
Advani said his yatra was an attempt to draw public attention to the issues of black money and corruption. Many, however, called it his endeavor to position himself as the face of the BJP and as its prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2014 general elections.
At various stopovers during his 38-day tour, Advani unflinchingly slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over issues related to corruption. But former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa's arrest, barely five days after Advani embarked upon his tour, seriously dented his anti-corruption crusade.
In July, the BJP forced Yeddyurappa to quit as Chief Minister of Karnataka after he was indicted in a report on illegal mining that declared him guilty of accepting kickbacks from companies who were given mining licences. He was arrested on October 15 in an alleged land scam case.
Yeddyurappa's arrest led to speculation that Advani might skip Karnataka leg of his yatra. Many saw it as a litmus test. But Advani took it head on and went ahead with his trip to the city as scheduled.
Addressing a rally in the state, he declared that his party would not make any compromise with corruption in the states ruled by it. "Good governance cannot co-exist with corruption...I am not saying this only to the Congress. I am telling this to me (my party) also...If there is corruption in us (party-ruled governments), we will not compromise.
"I have said this earlier also that I will never defend corruption. There is no doubt in this," he told a public meeting at the National College Ground in Bangalore. "If I talk about wrongs in the government, wrongs in the Congress, then I will not accept it within our governments too," he added.
A day later, he declared that his party does not regret the way it handled senior leaders in Karnataka accused of corruption. "We have to deal with corruption firmly whether it is in the Congress or my party," he said.