BackDelhi BJP chief’s remark on Advani creates flutter
Advani tells workers not be apologetic for the Ayodhya movement and should take pride instead
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New Delhi : Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Vijay Goel on Saturday created flutter with his remark that the next government at the Centre will be formed under L.K. Advani’s leadership, a statement that comes amid growing clamour in the party for projecting Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.
“The next government at the centre will be formed under the leadership of L.K. Advani and nobody else," he said, addressing the party’s foundation day in the presence of Advani and party president Rajnath Singh.
As television channels carried his statement and there was flutter in the party circles, Goel sought to play down his remark saying what he meant was that the next government will be formed under Advani’s guidance.
He eulogized Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani in his speech, saying they guided the party since its inception. While Vajpayee was unwell, he said, the party will seek Advani’s guidance as it braces ahead for forming its government after the next general election.
Addressing the party workers at the BJP headquarters, Advani said that they should not be apologetic for the Ayodhya movement and should take pride instead.
“When people believe and talk of our Ayodhya issue and agitate over it, you should not be apologetic over it, ever. You should take pride in it," Advani said.
Advani said he felt pride in admitting that his party raised the issue of Ram temple and Ayodhya as it was not just a political outfit but also a cultural one.
“People say that the BJP and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh achieved this position by raising issues like Ayodhya and Ram temple. I feel proud in admitting this and say that ours is not just a political movement but also a cultural movement," he said.
Advani exhorted partymen not to compromise on corruption and show strength and courage in doing so. He asked them to prove the party’s detractors wrong who had charged the BJP of being a party of differences and not a party with a difference.
He said Hindu, Bharatiya and Indian were synonyms and Hindutva, Bharatiya and Indianism are synonymous with each other.
In his address, BJP president Rajnath Singh said if voted to power, the party will strengthen state governments further through de-decentralization of powers. This, he said, was to strengthen all state governments.
Singh criticized the UPA government for doling out heavy tax concessions to corporates and taking away subsidies of farmers.
The BJP president also criticized the government for the decontrol of sugar industry by giving them concessions to the extent of ₹ 5,500 crore.
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