Mumbai, April 2: The Eicher bus cost about Rs 10 lakh; as a “rath” it’s worth twice as much.

“Once again, we have got Advaniji’s rath ready in time,” Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Vinod Tawde announced today.

The state unit is by now seasoned in the art of making raths for its national leaders to trundle across the country to spread political messages. It has already made two before ? one in Pune and another in Mumbai.

The air-conditioned bus with an open roof would be a prince’s envy. It is equipped with a platform for impromptu public speeches, a toilet, a living room, a fridge, a television set and a DVD player. Advani is known to be fond of Hindi movies.

The bus has been repainted, too. This time, it’s the national colours: saffron, white and green.

“The bus cost about Rs 9.36 lakh. An equal amount goes into providing the additional paraphernalia. It is then a job of just about a fortnight,” a BJP source said.

“Yesterday, Venkaiah Naidu made a spot assessment of the preparations at Chinsuad in Pune,” Tawde added. “On Monday, the rath will be on its way to New Delhi via Rajkot for Advaniji to start the yatra on April 6.”

Naidu dashed to Pune after Delhi High Court on Friday gave the green light to Advani and Rajnath Singh’s parallel rath yatras.

“We know just what to do and that saves time, so I guess the national leadership chooses us every time there is a need for a rath,” a beaming BJP organiser said.

The money was provided by the Delhi BJP and the bus-rath will become its property at the end of the yatra.

The venue where the bus was reborn in its rath avatar was kept a secret on the Union home ministry’s advice because of security reasons.

The BJP has already blasted the Centre for suggesting a bullet-proof vehicle keeping in mind the security threats to Advani’s yatra ? being called the Bharat Suraksha Yatra by the BJP.

Apart from the 1990 and 1997 yatras, none of Advani’s much-publicised political travels have been on raths. One tour in 2004, cannily called the Bharat Uday Yatra, hardly made use of a converted Swaraj-Mazda that mostly stayed on standby.

This time, the Advani rath will roll for 35 days, pulling up in New Delhi on May 10, the anniversary of the 1857 “First War of Independence”.