Mangalore: Home Minister R Ashok will Take Part in Advani Yatra: C T Ravi
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Oct 24: State BJP chief secretary C T Ravi was at the district BJP office here on Monday October 24 to examine the preparations for BJP senior leader Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra that will be arriving in the city on October 31.
Addressing reporters, he informed that in Advani's long political career, he has already held five yatras. First on September 25 in 1990 (Ram Rath Yatra), second in the year 1993 (Jan Desh Yatra), third in 1997 (Swarna Jayanthi Rath Yatra), fourth in 2004 (Bharath Uday Yatra), and fifth in 2006 (Bharath Suraksha Yatra) covering 43,000 km in all.
About uncertainty over Advani’s Yatra reaching Bangalore, C T Ravi said the party state president K S Eshwarappa has confirmed the arrival of the yatra in the state capital and added that since only allegation is made on home minister R Ashok, he is not guilty unless it is proved in the court of law. R Ashok will take part in the yatra, he said.
When scribes asked whether it was not embarassing for Advani to enter Karnataka as many BJP leaders are facing corruption charges and are lodged in jail, he said one is innoncent unless proven guilty in court. No one can be termed as offenders till convicted, he asserted. He defended the party and said Yeddyurappa's resignation was a prime example of its integrity.
The current 41-day Jan Chetna yatra flagged off on September 11 on the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan. Now the yatra is in Odisha (formerly Orissa). It will cover 10,000 km and aim to create awareness about good administration, clean politics, black money issue and raise voice against corruption, Ravi detailed.
Coming down heavily on the central UPA government and Congress in particular, he said though Chidambaram's name was mixed up in 2G scam and there were allegations of corruption against Sheila Dikshit and even Goa CM Digambar Kamat, no action was taken. Though CAG report was submitted a year ago, A Raja continued in his post, and was removed only later, he said.
Leaders Monappa Bhandary, Nithin Kumar, Dr Bharath Shetty were present at the press meet.