Nitish to flag off Advani yatra, fears little harm

Sep 24, 2011 - ANAND S.T. DAS |

Age Correspondent

Patna

JD(U) stalwart and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s eventual willingness to flag off BJP patriarch L.K. Advani’s rath yatra from Bihar came on Friday after much brainstorming in the JD(U) which concluded that the possible damages to the regional party would not outweigh the gains expected.

In fact, Mr Kumar is going to be the only chief minister invited to the inauguration ceremony of the BJP’s ambitious national campaign against corruption that Mr Advani will begin, along with other top BJP leaders, from Sitabdiara village, the birthplace of Jaiprakash Narayan, in Bihar’s Saran district on October 11, the legendary leader’s birth anniversary.
Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP confirmed on Friday that Mr Kumar would be the only CM invited to the inauguration of the Advani-led yatra, which means — to the JD(U)’s and Mr Kumar’s great relief — Gujarat CM Narendra Modi will not be in Bihar during this programme. The JD(U) is, therefore, relieved of apprehensions about upsetting the sentiments of Bihar’s sizeable Muslims by Mr Kumar’s participation in Mr Advani’s yatra.
The party decided it had little to lose from Mr Kumar’s participation in view of the current political situation in the state.
JD(U) sources said party chief Sharad Yadav had been advocating for Mr Kumar’s participation from the beginning and that discussions held between Mr Kumar and BJP president Nitin Gadkari over phone finally sealed the matter.

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