BJP core group discusses Advani's proposed yatra

L K Advani's proposed yatra against corruption was Sunday discussed threadbare in a meeting of BJP's core group.

The meeting held at Advani's residence Sunday morning saw various suggestions from leaders like taking the yatra to the states which are going to polls next year and to begin it on October 2 to coinicide with Mahatma Gandhi's birthday.

The meeting attended by party president Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Bal Apte, Ananth Kumar and others also discussed contemporary political issues, party sources said.

Two more meetings with party's national office-bearers and senior leaders are planned.

In the three-hour long morning meeting, there were suggestions that there should be breaks in yatra during festivals such as Dussehara. The yatra could roughly cover a distance of 6,000 kilometers.

While Advani is of the view that it should focus on "clean politics good governance", some senior leaders of BJP were of the view that it should be an anti-corruption yatra as the issue of corruption has resonated across the country.

While leaders from poll-bound states like Punjab, Uttaranchal, Goa and Uttar Pradesh want that the yatra should also pass through these states, some of the leaders in the meeting did not favour the idea.

83-year-old Advani's surprise announcement of undertaking a yatra across the country is also being seen as an attempt by him to get a grip over the party.

Gadkari had recently said the party will not declare its Prime Ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections and the decision would be taken after the polls.