Senior BJP leader lK Advani on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed confidence that Modi will fulfil people’s expectations in a similar way he led the party to “a miraculous” electoral victory.
“I am sure he (Modi) will fulfil people’s expectations from the new Government in a similar way he led the party and its campaign. Nobody expected that we will achieve such a miraculous victory,” Advani said. Recalling his long-political journey, Advani said he had been part of all National Council meetings of the party since 1953 and what he had seen this time was “unprecedented”.
He said he was pleased to hear the speeches of party leaders which lacked any trace of “arrogance” over its victory and showed a sense of accountability and responsibility. Advani said the party will not be judged by how Ministers work, but on how workers conduct themselves in public and deal with people. He said he wanted only Modi to speak in the post-lunch session but party president Amit Shah insisted that he too should address the gathering. “I can not disobey my party president”, the party patriarch said in a lighter vein.
Advani recalled the contribution of Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, then RSS Sarsanghchalak Golwalkar Guruji and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in shaping the future of the BJP. He said a series of discussions between Mukherjee and Guruji after the 1951 Kanpur session helped Jan Sangh and later the BJP evolve as “a party with a difference”.
He lauded performance of the party in Uttar Pradesh where he said no one was willing to give more than 45 lok Sabha seats to the BJP. He praised the arrangements in the Council meet and described it as “the best ever”.