On the sidelines of his visit to Gujarat to kick-start the much talked about cleanliness drive initiative of Prime Minster Narendra Modi, veteran BJP leader and Gandhinagar MP lal Krishna Advani breaking his silence over the BJP-Shiv Sena split said that he would have been happy if the alliance had continued.
Talking to the reporters, Advani said that he would have been happier, if the alliance would not have been broken. He however said that as per the BJP’s seat sharing demand, the BJP should get more seats. The octogenarian leader also said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray called him up after the break-up of the 25 year old alliance. “After talking to him, I called up Nitin Gadkari and he said that the party is trying hard to resolve the issue,” he added.
The former Deputy Prime Minister also showered praise on PM Modi at a party workers’ meeting saying that not only nationally but internationally too Narendrabhai is making his mark. He accepted that he felt immense pride to term Modi as an able Prime Minister, who is working with a sense of responsibility. In reference to Modi’s recent visit to the USA, he said that for the Prime Minister it is not enough to rule the country effectively but it is also necessary to establish relationships with other countries.
Advani didn’t forget to remember former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying that in the history of India, there has been no other Prime Minister like Vajpayee. He also remembered contribution of top leaders of BJP and RSS — Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Nanaji Deshmukh and Kushabhau Thakre during the meeting.