The Yatra of a Neta, a Baba and an Activist

A political leader, a spiritual guru and a social activist – set to take up countrywide Yatras for the causes varying from corruption, black money and Lok Pal Bill. After a ‘season of fasting’, India is all set to witness a series of campaigns by LK Advani, Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare in the coming days.

Just as Modi ended his Sadbhavana hunger strike and his opponent Shankersinh Vaghela‘s counter fast came to an end, the controversial spiritual Guru Baba Ramdev began his Yatra against corruption and black money. Bharatiya Janata Party‘s octogenarian leader, Lal Krishna Advani also has announced his intentions to take up an anti-corruption yatra from October 11. Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption crusader, will begin his version of yatra for the Lok Pal Bill with the support of the civil society.

LK Advani

Most Indians remember LK Advani for his historic rath yatra, the aftereffects of which can never be forgotten. Now, the veteran leader is all set to begin his anti-corruption rath yatra. To keep the anti-Congress flame burning, Advani has decided to begin his yatra from Sitabdiara in Saran district, Bihar, the birthplace of Jayaprakash Narayan, who was strong criticizer of Congress. The BJP leader also plans to begin his road show on October 11, on the birthday anniversary the fiery revolutionist during the time of emergency. The party said the decision on the yatra has been unanimously endorsed and it’s fully with the yatra which will end on November 20. However, the civil society leaders Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal termed Advani’s yatra just a political gimmick.

Baba Ramdev

Baba Ramdev’s fast at the Ramlila ground and the following drama is not yet forgotten. Back to action, the yoga guru has began his 1,00,000 km long yatra from Jhansi to Prayag in Uttar Pradesh. The Swabhimaan’ yatra, he hopes, will make people aware of the issues of corruption and black money. He has been fighting tooth and nail against the central government’s inability to bring back the black money in the safe havens abroad. He claims that around 4,00,000 crore black money is stashed in the foreign countries and says his fight to bring back the money to India has become a ‘religious war’ for him. However, the spiritual guru has been under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate for a foreign exchange violation case. His controversial aide Balkrishna, who was booked in a many cases, is would accompany Baba though out the march.

Anna Hazare

The man with no political backup, Anna Hazare has a strong support base today and the movement he leads can bring in a lot of changes. After the historic fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, the Gandhian has decided to take a nationwide tour to all the poll-bound states to mobilize the public against those opposing the bill. Team Anna sees the yatra as the best opportunity to bring people closer to the movement by opening a forum of directly interaction with Hazare. The tour also will accelerate the civil society’s efforts in expanding its agenda from anti-corruption to electoral reforms. Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Santosh Hegde, and Prashant Bhushan will organize the schedule. The yatra is expected to begin in the month of October and will mostly cover the states that are going to polls soon such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.

Related articles

• Beyond the fast, a Roadmap for the Yatra – Column in The Pioneer (offstumped.in)
• A Yatra to listen ….. (offstumped.in)
• Anna Hazare rides wrath yatra, ups ante on Jan Lokpal Bill (thelawfile.wordpress.com)