LK Advani

Dumka, Oct. 19: L.K. Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra has evoked little enthusiasm in Dumka, in stark contrast to 1990, when the BJP’s leader’s detention in Massanjore had catapulted the district into the spotlight.

Residents of Santhal Pargana are of the opinion that the BJP is in no position to talk about corruption when it has joined hands with the JMM, which had been implicated in the cash-for-votes scam that took place during P.V. Narasimha Rao’s stint as Prime Minister.

In 1990, the support for Advani had been so great that thousands of well-wishers who had flocked to the guesthouse where he was being held had to be chased away by security personnel.

This time, few seem to be inclined to go to Ranchi on October 21 to welcome Advani, who would then air dash to Calcutta after marking his trip to Jharkhand.

“We are embarrassed because by running a government with the support of corruption-tainted JMM, our party has lost credibility,” said a senior BJP cadre, who appeared confused about attending Advani’s rally in Ranchi.

“How can Advani talk about corruption in Jharkhand, which is neck-deep in it?” he added.

“It is not that the central BJP leadership is unaware of corruption in Jharkhand,” said Pramod Vidyarthi, an erstwhile BJP cadre turned JVM functionary. Notably Vidyarthi was among those die-hard followers of Advani who had tried to meet the leader during his fortnight-long detention at Massanjore.

For the common man, Advani’s stopover in Ranchi holds little significance.

“We are facing acute crisis of basic amenities including LPG, drinking water, health and communication facilities largely due to prevailing corruption. How can one repose faith in Advani’s yatra, when the party has joined hands with the JMM?” asked Nisha Choudhary, a housewife.

CPI(ML) rally

The CPI(ML) will be holding “bhandaphor” rallies across Jharkhand tomorrow to debunk Advani’s much-hyped Jan Chetna Yatra.

In Ranchi, the party cadres will take out processions through the main thoroughfares and hold a public meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk, which will be addressed by general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya.

Incidentally, Advani will be addressing a public meeting at Morabadi grounds on Friday.

“Advani should first justify why his party’s two chief ministers were forced to resign on corruption charges. Of late, he has also started claiming that he had warned his men. He should first apologise for misleading the masses,” Bhattacharya told mediapersons today.

He opined that Jharkhand too badly needed a fresh mandate since the existing coalition has miserably failed on every front. The BJP led governments by Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda have often been in the eyes of storm for their alleged acts of omission and commission. He alleged that these governments only indulged plundering state resources and did little for the welfare of commoners.

“Advani should also explain why the Narendra Modi government is evasive on lokayukta’s appointment. And, Anna Hazare too should expand his campaign to BJP ruled states as well. Both NDA and UPA will be suffering more humiliating defeat in the coming days. The result of just concluded Hissar by-election was only a beginning,” he commented.

Bhattacharya, however, strongly condemned the incidents of attack on Hazare’s close aides Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal. He opined that there was no place for terror in democracy.

On Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal, he said that it was yet to address those issues, which were raised during the elections. He pointed out that over 500 political activists were still languishing in different prisons of Bengal and that there was no move to settle their cases. Further, though land dispute happened to be the biggest issue, these have not yet been looked into.

CPI(ML) member in the state assembly Vinod Singh demanded that the anti-Naxal operations in the Saranda forest area be stopped henceforth. He claimed that poor tribals living in forest villages have been the worse victims of police high-handedness.