Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Senior BJP leader LK Advani’s 40-day long Jan Chetna Yatra culminated in the national capital on Sunday.
Addressing a grand rally at Ramlila Maidan here after concluding his yatra, Advani targeted the Congress-led UPA government on corruption, black money and price rise.
The BJP leader said he had never seen such a corrupt government. “The government lacks political will to fight corruption,” he added.
Underlining only his yatra has concluded and not the fight against corruption, Advani pledged he will fight till people are convinced that the battle against corruption has been won.
He also reiterated that there should be an effective Lokpal in the country.
Advani also targeted the government on black money, saying despite his repeated attempts the government has yet to give any proper response on the issue.
"I hope the government tracked response to my yatra and realised that the people want action against black money,” Advani told his supporters.
He further announced that MPs belonging to the opposition NDA would soon write to Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman informing them that they do not have any illegal bank account or asset outside the country.
The senior BJP leader also attacked the government on the issue of price rise, saying food inflation has hit record levels during UPA’s rule.
Advani also noted that he had never seen such a rally at Ramlila Maidan, and added he missed the presence of senior party leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
According to Advani, it was people’s support that made his yatra a success.
Advani’s yatra drew to an end as his rath (a bus) entered New Delhi from Ghaziabad. The yatra aimed at drawing public attention to the issues of black money and corruption.
Advani’s rally at Ramlila Maidan was attended by top BJP leaders including Nitin Gadkari and Ananth Kumar and leaders of opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, respectively.
Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav, Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders were also present on the occasion.
Earlier, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Sharad Yadav and others also addressed the rally.
In her address, Sushma Swaraj targeted the UPA government saying it was riddled with scams. According to her, scams and UPA’s wrong policies had fuelled price rise.
Jaitley on his part dubbed UPA as the most corrupt government, adding it was facing a crisis of leadership.
Sharad Yadav meanwhile said he had never seen the country in such a bad state.
Meanwhile, Congress dubbed Advani's yatra as a mere "lip service" and said it is an attempt by the BJP veteran to remain "afloat" in his party.
"Merely taking out so-called anti-corruption yatra is nothing but lip service...this is nothing but grand preaching without a millimetre of practice," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, reacting to Advani's remarks at the conclusion of his yatra against corruption.
The Jan Chetna Yatra, which began from Sitabdiara in Bihar, the native village of veteran socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan on October 11, reached the national capital after passing through 22 states and five Union Territories.
First Published: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 08:52