Madurai:  A bomb weighing seven kgs was found on the outskirts of Madurai just an hour before senior BJP leader LK Advani was meant to travel over the bridge underneath which the Improvised Explosive Device was placed. 

The bomb was discovered by locals in the village of Alampatti, 30 km from Madurai, where Mr Advani launched Phase 2 of his nation-wide yatra or tour this morning. 

The police was alerted and found the bomb linked to a 50-feet-long wire that ran through a pool of water and was hooked up to a battery hidden near a palm tree. “I came here to pick up the remains of firecrackers (from Diwali)”, said Selvaraj. “I stumbled upon a wire which ran all the way to a tree.”

As a bomb disposal squad searched the area, Mr Advani’s route to Kerala from Tamil Nadu was altered to skip the Almatti road where the bomb was found.

In 1998, a series of blasts hit Coimbatore hours before Mr Advani was to address an election rally. 58 people were killed and over 200 injured.

Mr Advani has dedicated his Jan Chetna Yatra to promoting public awareness for “good governance” and to heighten the corruption within the government. The first leg of his tour which covered parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ended before Diwali.

In Tamil Nadu’s elections in May, the BJP did not win a single seat. So yesterday in Madurai, Mr Advani was quick to focus on a local issue – the opposition among villagers to the nuclear plant at Kudankulam. The Prime Minister has asked the state government to help ensure that the two nuclear reactors at the 13,000-crore project become operational as scheduled. Residents of this coastal part of the state say they’re not convinced by international assurances that the plant passes all safety tests. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has so far sided with them, insisting that all work at the project be suspended till a team of experts convinces residents that they are not in danger.

“The Kudankulam power plant is also located near the sea. Commercial considerations or the fact that the contract has been accepted should not override the safety of the people,” Mr Advani said.

The senior BJP leader’s stand is being interpreted as a strong hint to Jayalalithaa that the BJP and she may have a similar agenda – and enough common ground to explore an alliance ahead of the next general election, scheduled for 2014.

Mr Advani’s yatra has been seen – despite his many protests – as his attempt to project himself as the man his party should select as its prime ministerial candidate. The other contender is Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who seems to have a good connect with Jayalalithaa. When Mr Modi held a three-day fast in September, devoted to the promotion of communal harmony, Jayalalithaa sent two representatives.  Mr Modi also attended Jayalalithaa’s swearing-in ceremony when she took over as the Tamil Nadu chief minister in May.

An attempt to win over Jayalalithaa, therefore, is believed to be high on Mr Advani’s undeclared agenda as he moves through her state.