Sat phone, fax to home in on Advani during yatra

Out of Delhi for the next 30 days, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani will rely heavily on a satellite phone and a fax on board his Bharat Uday Yatra to remain in touch with the the Home Ministry on matters concerning internal security. It’s learnt that Advani, who leaves for Kanyakumari on Tuesday afternoon, will be in constant touch with the ministry through the satellite phone and important files will be flown to him for his signature. He leaves for Thiruvanthapuram at 3 pm on a special aircraft hired by the BJP and will then take the road to Kanyakumari.

Sources said the Home Ministry had decided that Advani’s okay on most decisions would be taken over phone after faxing relevant data to him. Away until April 14, he will be in Delhi for a brief while from March 26-30 when he will be busy preparing for the second round of talks with the Hurriyat. Should an emergency arise while the DPM’s away, the Home Secretary may fly to discuss with Advani.

Meanwhile, Arvind Kumar, a 1993 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer currently with the Delhi IB unit, will monitor the yatra from Delhi by coordinating with his counterparts in the states.