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New Delhi, May 16 (ANI): Describing "Yatra" as a journey and a pilgrimage to bridge the gap between the ancient and the modern, the past and the present,BJP President L.K. Advani said that his party had successfully used this concept on four previous occasions to reach the people on issues of national concern. He said the BJP's first yatra-- the Ram Rath Yatra--nailed the bogie of pseudo-secularism and communalism and made a case for the promotion of cultural nationalism. It began from Somnath on September 25, 1990 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and culminated in Ayodhya on October 30, after traversing 10,000 kilometres. The 47-day Ekta Yatra from December 11,1991 to January 26, 1992 from Kanyakumari in the south to Srinagar in the north was aimed at dousing what the BJP called "the flames of separatism and fundamentalist terrorism fanned and abetted by Pakistan." It was led by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. The Janadesh Yatra from September 11 to 25, 1993 was started to highlight the BJP's opposition to the introduction of two draconian Bills-- the Constitution 80th Amendment Bill and the Representation of People(Amendment) Bill-- both of which were aimed at banning religion from public life as well as denying political spce to the BJP. The Yatra was started from four corners of the country with Advani leading it from Mysore, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat from Jammu, M.M.Joshi from Porbandar and Kalyan Singh from Calcutta. The yatra concluded at Bhopal. The Su-Raj or Good Governance Yatra, Advani said, was conducted in two phases-- the first phase began in Ernakulam on March 9 and ended in New Delhi on March 23, 1996. The second phase began from Indore on April 14 and ended in Lucknow on April 23. It was undertaken with the aim of restoring probity to public life and to let the people decide on who was right or wrong for governing the country. The Swarna Jayanti Yatra from May 18 to July 10, 1997, he said, will be launched with the aim of rekindling the spirit of patriotism.It will also seek to recall the last four yatras organised by the BJP and the message that each one of them conveyed to the people.(ANI) |