Saturday, April 15 2006 14:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guntakal (AP): After a three-day break following the death of Kannada thespian Rajkumar, senior BJP leader L K Advani today (Apr 15, 2006) resumed his Bharat Suraksha Yatra from Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

During the five-day long Andhra Pradesh leg of his yatra, Advani is scheduled to address a series of meetings in the Naxalite-affected Telangana and the faction-ridden Rayalaseema regions, besides the state capital Hyderabad.

Advani's yatra through the state has generated considerable political interest as it comes against the backdrop of the saffron party recently declaring its support for the demand for separate Telangana state.

Though BJP was the first party to have favoured statehood for Telangana when its state unit had passed a resolution to this effect in the run-up to the 1998 elections, it had kept the issue on the back-burner while in power at the Centre in return for the support from its then crucial ally TDP which is strongly opposed to the bifurcation of the state.

After ending its seven year long alliance with TDP, it has now revived the Telangana card in a bid to regain its lost ground in the backward region.

The Leader of the Opposition arrived by a special helicopter at the railway grounds at Guntakal in Anantapur district. He was received by senior party leaders including M Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, U Krishnamraju and state party President N Indrasena Reddy.