Advani's followers cheer as rath yatra reaches UP

The widespread support of people from all walks of life was evident on the second day of Bharatiya Janta Party leader L K Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra.

After Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the yatra at Chhapra on Tuesday, Advani has covered a distance of about 80 km of his 7600-km long yatra.

On Wednesday, the 84-year-old leader addressed the crowd at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, with the acumen characteristic of a veteran of six national yatras.

The support for his yatra was evident from the hundreds of people, young and old, who turned up to cheer on the BJP leader. His supporters waited for three to four hours at the welcome gates erected between Chapra and Patna. They waved gleefully when Advani's rath yatra -- replete with a convoy of 80 vehicles -- passed them.

Advani's followers had brought along elephants, horses and camels to hail his yatra.

On Wednesday, the yatra's first halt was at Ara, 70 km from Patna. Nearly five thousand people were present at the assembly where Advani spoke about the three-point agenda of his yatra -- pressurising the government to bring back black money, fighting corruption and price rise.

At the two other halts -- in Buxor and Ramgarh -- thousands of people turned up for the BJP leader's address, despite the yatra being delayed by three hours.

As the yatra moved away from Patna and towards Varanasi, the condition of the villages deteriorated. The yatra made its way through villages without electricity and roads without maintenance.

Both Buxor and Ramgarh have been living without electricity for days, said local villagers.

Yet, leaving their daily tribulations behind, people came and listened to Advani.

There definitely were some dissenting voices and not everybody waiting at the roadside for the yatra supported it.

But these people were definitely interested to hear a national leader speak on corruption. The issue of rampant corruption, more than any of the other items on Advani's agenda, has struck a chord even among the residents of rural India.