Advani embarked on a "Rath Yatra", or chariot journey, to mobilise "karsevaks", or volunteers, to converge upon the Babri Masjid to offer prayers. This Rath Yatra, undertaken in an air-conditioned van decorated to look like a chariot, began from Somnath in Gujarat and covered a large portion of Northern India until it was stopped by the Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, on the grounds that it was leading to communal violence. In the 1991 general elections, the BJP won the second largest number of seats, after the Congress. While on the Yatra, Advani carried symbols of the Hindu religion and made multiple speeches regarding the "Hindu society's alleged failure to protect its shrines from desecration by Muslim conquerors".