Karnataka BJP uneasy as Advani’s yatra enters Bangalore

Agencies

Bangalore, 31 October 2011: BJP leader LK Advani is feeling the heat from his own party members. He will address a rally at Bangalore’s Nehru Maidan on Monday as part of his anti-corruption yatra, but there was little support for him from his own party members as former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s supporters skipped his rally in Bangalore.

 

A protest by the Karnataka Congress and a downpour is what greeted Advani’s anti-corruption rath yatra into what’s arguably the most scam-tainted BJP-ruled state in the country.

 

The senior BJP leader lost no time in launching yet another a tirade against the UPA. He said, "I’ve often said the cash-for-votes scam is bigger than 2G. It has never happened in the history of the world that such dishonesty is so blatantly exhibited to the world. There was not a single person in the Congress who was not involved in it.

Advani finally brought his anti-corruption yatra into Karnataka where many of his party MLAs are facing serious charges of corruption, some of them even in jail and while he rallied on bravely, what was also notable was the fact that many ministers in the BJP government were absent from the Banglaore show.

 

The state BJP tried to downplay the absence of Yeddyurappa aides like Shoba Karandlaje, Basavaraj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani and V Somanna saying they had other engagements. Advani himself didn’t shy away from the issue of corruption in the Karnataka cabinet.

 

"Good governance cannot co-exist with corruption. This is not just about the Congress but also about us. If we want to fight corruption, we cannot make a compromise with those among us who’re corrupt either," he said.

 

This is Advani’s first visit to Karnataka since former chief minister Yeddyurappa was sent to jail on corruption charges. But it remains to be seen what BJP does about more of its ministers now facing police inquiries.