By IANS
New Delhi : Despite a reported terror threat from suspected Islamist groups, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani is going ahead with his ‘sankalp yatra’, his aides said Tuesday.
Responding to reports that intelligence agencies had warned that there could be a terror attack against Advani’s campaign tour that kicks off from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh Wednesday, his personal secretary Deepak Chopra said: “I can say only this much that there is no change in his (Advani’s) programme to address a pubic rally in Jabalpur tomorrow.
“Beyond this I can’t say anything about his future programme because in my knowledge no future programme has been finalised so far,” Chopra told IANS.
The BJP’s core committee will, however, meet Wednesday to decide whether he will continue his programme from Jabalpur onwards.
Chopra refused to disclose whether Advani had been informed of the threat from intelligence agencies.
The former deputy prime minister plans to tour the entire country over the next 15 months to mobilise support for his party before the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
He symbolically commenced his campaign rally with a rath yatra Feb 2 with a flag off from the party office by BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley and vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
“But this time around, the Sankalp (determination) Yatra will not be a continuous journey,” campaign in charge Sushma Swaraj explained.
Advani’s entry into Uttar Pradesh is slated for Feb 10 at Rampur where a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp was attacked Jan 1 by terrorists.