Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh will get a new rath to complete the rest of his yatra. This was disclosed by Prakash Javadekar, official spokesman for the party on Saturday evening.
Rajnath's rath broke down in Orissa barely a few hundred kilometers after the start of his Bharat Suraksha Yatra along with Lal Kishenchand Advani, leader of the opposition.
"M Venkaiah Naidu, senior leader of the party, is seized of the matter and a new rath is being rushed from Bhopal to continue the yatra. This would have to be made bulletproof before it is handed over for the yatra. Rajnath Singhji would in the meanwhile travel by car and continue his journey," Javadekar said.
Party leaders denied the charge that an inferior rath was handed over to Rajnath Singh and that the organisers knew it well that this rath would not last long enough. "This is a machine and anything can go wrong with it," Javadekar said.
Sources close to Rajnath Singh said senior party leaders are worried about the delibrate attempt by the leader of the opposition to take away the limelight from the party president by announceing a joint rath yatra. When Advani went on rath yatras, he was the party president and no other functionary of the BJP was allowed to take out a parallel yatra like he has done this time around.
Advani is accompanied by his wife, daughter Pratibha, son Jayant and his daughter-in-law.
More from rediff