Advanis vehicle develops snag near Bargarh

SAMBALPUR: The Jan Chetna Yatra by BJP stalwart L K Advani faced hurdles on the first day in Orissa when his ‘rath,’ a makeshift vehicle, broke down at Godbhaga, 3 km from Bargarh, on its way to Sambalpur.  There was a loud noise and suddenly the ‘rath’ started stinking, former State BJP president Suresh Pujari told this paper. Advani, along with other leaders, were immediately shifted to another car which proceeded towards Sambalpur. Sources said one of the pipes in the toilet of the ‘rath’ may have broken down. The vehicle had developed a similar technical snag in the initial days while criss-crossing Bihar. Advani reached Luharchatti on the Orissa border from Chhattisgarh on his Orissa leg of the yatra two hours late at 5.10 pm, where he was welcomed by State party  leaders, including president Jual Oram, leader of the BJP Legislature Party K V Singhdeo, Pujari and others.The BJP patriarch, who is on his sixth all-India yatra, was given a rousing welcome at the Orissa border town. “Bhrashtachar mitaenge, Kaladhan wapas laenge and Samruddha Bharat banaenge,” was the catch words of Advani on the road. The entourage stopped at several places for felicitation by party supporters and people who thronged both sides of the road.  The BJP leader, however, steered clear of any mention of corruption in the Naveen Patnaik Government during his speeches. Addressing a meeting at Sohela, Advani said ` 25 lakh crore is stashed abroad in foreign banks. The money should be utilised for the development of 60,000 backward villages in the country, he said. Describing the UPA-II Government as the most corrupt in history, Advani said even Union ministers are in jail. He harped on a developed India based on good governance. Senior BJP leaders Ananthkumar, Ravishankar Prasad and Vijay Goel accompanied him.Advani will stay at Sambalpur tonight and leave for his second day of yatra in Orissa on Monday morning. His three-day visit to Orissa has been curtailed to two days and he is expected to leave the State on Monday evening.