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Advani sets off on cross-country campaign
Advani will cover major Indian states along the way before concluding his journey at Puri in Orissa April 14, six days before the five-phase parliamentary poll begins.
Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani Wednesday launched a cross-country election campaign on behalf of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from this Hindu pilgrimage town in Tamil Nadu, vowing to return to power.
Amid unprecedented security and media glare, Advani set off on the "Bharat Uday Yatra", or India Shining Tour, from the country's southernmost tip made famous by Hindi sage Swami Vivekananda and the mythical confluence of three seas.
Advani will cover major Indian states along the way before concluding his journey at Puri in Orissa April 14, six days before the five-phase parliamentary poll begins.
Top leaders of the BJP and multi-religious heads descended upon this seaside town to see off Advani, who was accompanied by his wife Kamala, daughter Pratibha and son Jayant.
A large crowd gathered at the site where Advani made a speech in English, simultaneously translated in Tamil, before BJP chief M. Venkaiah Naidu flagged off the tour.
Advani is riding a specially designed bus, which his supporters are calling a 'rath', or chariot. It has been plastered with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's images, the BJP election symbol lotus and a collage of the party's vision of "India Shining".
The air-conditioned vehicle is fitted with a sitting room, a toilet, separate lounging area for Advani complete with satellite TV, a fax and global positioning system (GPS) and a hydraulic elevator to enable him to address rallies from the roof.
Before embarking on his journey, Advani visited the famed Rock Memorial named after Vivekananda.
Advani had undertaken an emotive cross-country campaign in 1990 to drum up support for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. But that campaign was marked by widespread communal violence.
A year before Vajpayee took power for the second time as prime minister, Advani undertook another journey in 1997 to mark 50 years of India's independence.
Just before Advani set out from here, the Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest suit against the campaign tour. The litigant pleaded that for the deputy prime minister to undertake such a journey was a violation of the model code of conduct.
