Bihar is all set to witness Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani's “Jan Chetna Yatra” from Sitab Diara in Saran district on Tuesday.
The 40-day nationwide anti-corruption ‘rath yatra' is the culmination of several press conferences by the BJP and vociferous denunciations by the Congress-led UPA government. The State BJP unit has left no stone unturned to make Mr. Advani's moment “historic.”
Sitab Diara, a village noted only as the birthplace of socialist stalwart Jayaprakash Narayan, is gearing for the big occasion.
In the capital and across the State, grandiose banners featuring top BJP leaders connected with Bihar and presided over with a solemn-looking ‘JP' (as Jayaprakash was affectionately known) have sprung up in squares and sidewalks.
According to party sources, 84 welcome arches have been put up for the octogenarian's visit as he traverses the length of Bihar in a van converted into a chariot of sorts, to preach the message of anti-corruption.
A hundred street-corner meetings will take in the capital in a bid to hammer home the themes of Mr. Advani's rally, which prominently includes the recovery of black money stashed away in foreign bank accounts.
As per the itinerary, Mr. Advani will be addressing a gathering with Janata Dal (United) national president Sharad Yadav and senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj at the Gandhi Maidan later in the day.
Mr. Advani will begin his campaign from Chhapra, which happens to be the constituency of the man who once arrested him during his 1990 Ram Rath Yatra — Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad.
That single action had transformed Mr. Prasad into an overnight ‘secular superstar' as he crystallised his hold over the Muslims and Yadavs of Bihar during his eventful 15-year reign in the State.
The past days have seen both Mr. Prasad and his ally, Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Jan Shakti party, issue stern warnings to the BJP leadership against Mr. Advani's campaign acquiring a communal hue. While the duo have railed against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for assenting to flag off Mr. Advani's campaign, Mr. Prasad plans to hold a meeting at Gandhi Maidan before Mr. Advani's address later in the day.
Villagers excited
Back at Sitab Diara, the residents too are breathing in the heady air of political excitement as they eagerly await the take-off, albeit for different reasons. They pine for better roads, could do with some electricity and hope for improved communication. They hope that this obscure mass of riverine land, geologically sited on the border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and chronically inundated with floods, will be a slightly better place to live in after the noises of Mr. Advani's yatra have drowned and been long forgotten.
