Advani thanks Nitish for welcoming his 'Jan Chetna Yatra' in Bihar

Patna, Oct 12 (ANI): Expressing his gratitude to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for flagging off his 'Jan Chetna Yatra', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Lal Krishna Advani on Wednesday said he had never seen any of his nationwide tours being given such a big boost on the very first day.

"I have thanked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday. But, I would like to express my gratitude to him once again for welcoming my 'yatra' and linking himself with it. My nationwide tour has gained more strength and momentum, as he flagged off my 'yatra' and also spoke on the dais along with me in Chhapra," said Advani.

"The way people of Bihar have welcomed the 'yatra', this is my sixth yatra and I have never seen any other' yatra' earlier being given such a big boost on the very first day," he added.

Advani further said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government should inform the country about the steps which the government has taken till date to bring back the black money stashed away in the banks of foreign countries.

"Today I demand that the Central Government bring out a white paper on black money in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament, in which they should tell the country that according to their estimates, how much of the country's money has been stashed away in foreign banks and what steps have been taken to bring the money back," he added.

Advani said that it was important to book the perpetrators who had stashed away black money in safe havens abroad, and added the government was aware of the names of those people who were involved in such malpractices.

"I also demand that in my knowledge, the government have received some names, some countries have given them names of Indians, whose money have been deposited in foreign banks. I demand that those names should be made public," said Advani.

"I have heard that till now the government has decided, not to publish those names and have asked the income tax department to enquire about those names and have been asked to enquire quietly, so that people are not aware about it. Nobody should be protected," he added.

Criticizing the Centre for failing to tackle the issue of black money, corruption, inflation and poverty; Advani said: "When I raised this (black money) issue for the first time in 2009, then Congress spokespersons made fun of me. I was ridiculed for raising the issue and was told that when our government was in power, why did we not act upon it?"

The BJP leader also lauded the contribution of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia for understanding the ideology propagated by the Jan Sangh Party and making the people aware about the outfit.

Advani began his 38-day 'Jan Chetna Yatra' from Bihar's Sitabdiara village on Tuesday.

Advani's much-hyped journey to take on the UPA Government on the corruption issue and press for return of black money stashed away abroad is going to encompass 23 states, four Union Territories, which will include 100 districts and 7600 kilometres.

The yatra will see Advani boarding 14 special aircraft and six helicopters. He has to visit a total of 46 places across the country. The 38-day long yatra will conclude in Delhi on November 20 in the form of a massive rally.

However, many political parties have claimed that Advani's procession was motivated by the upcoming general elections to be held in 2014.

Advani had organised a similar yatra in the 1990's, to mobilise support towards building a temple dedicated to Lord Rama in Ayodhya.

In 2004, he had taken out another chariot procession to reiterate the demand to build the Lord Rama temple in Ayodhya. (ANI)