Determined to oust the Congress-led UPA Government from the Centre, BJP patriarch and former Deputy PM lK Advani suggested that opponents of the ruling party must contest the coming lok Sabha polls akin to 1977 when a combined Opposition trounced the Congress to pave way for the formation of the first non-Congress Government at the Centre.
Advani was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day working committee meeting of the State BJP in Chitrakoot on Wednesday.
Advani also referred to ideological similarities of Jansangh stalwart Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Socialist ideologue Manohar lohia, claiming both were staunch advocates of cultural nationalism.
The praise of lohia is being considered significant keeping in mind the recent adulation heaped on Advani by SP chief and lohia protege, Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Akin to other Opposition leaders, the senior BJP leader too apprehended that the 2014 lok Sabha polls might be preponed to this year.
Advani said that the entire nation wants to get rid of the bad governance of the Congress. He exhorted political parties to contest the polls on the pattern of 1977. “Had the Congress won the 1977 elections, then democracy would have been imperiled. But Jansangh backed by political parties motivated by cultural nationalism defeated the Congress and restored democracy,” he said.
The former Deputy PM was all praise for Socialist thinker Ram Manohar lohia and drew comparisons with Deen Dayal Upadhyay saying they were alike on ideological terms.
“Both were not only great advocates of cultural nationalism but also in favour of making a federation by uniting India and Pakistan,” Advani said. He also advised the BJP to change its attitude towards Muslims. “We must take lessons from our past mistakes and this will only enhance our reputation and prestige,” he added.
Advani did not forget to mention his yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990. “It gave immense strength to the party and the ‘Swarn Jayanti Yatra’ being taken out in 2010 against corruption and black money too got tremendous response from the people,” he recalled.
“We are not in politics merely to occupy chair or positions. Our politics is to keep the unity and integrity of the nation intact,” he said.
In his 50-minute address which was more like a speech of a statesman, Advani regretted that UP was not contributing to the growth of the BJP in a way it used to do during the 1990s.
“The sorry state of affairs in UP hurts me. It is the same State which enabled us to rule the country,” he lamented and added that it would have been better if former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was present there. “I met Vajpayeeji two-three day back and I felt sorry for him,” he said.
Advani said that corruption had become the main issue in the last three years and a series of scams have surfaced and even Ministers went to jail for this.
“The people are worried as they did not see an end to this (corruption) with this type of Government. Price rise has broken their back and they want to see a change,” he said recalling that the Vajpayee Government had numerous achievements to its credit.
Those attending the two-day working committee meeting included State BJP chief lakshmikant Bajpai, former UP chiefs Keshrinath Tripathi, Om Prakash Singh and Surya Pratap Shahi, senior leader lalji Tandon among others. After the inaugural speech of Advani, closed door discussions started which went on till late in the evening.