Maharashtra party leaders stay away from rally
Addressing his first election rally for the coming general election, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani on Monday sought to place the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the same league as other BJP chief ministers, saying the Gujarat Chief Minister was only one among three chief ministers of the party to score an electoral hat-trick. “Our Modiji isn’t the only one who has scored a hat-trick in elections. Shivraj Singh Chouhan [Madhya Pradesh] and Raman Singh [Chhattisgarh] have also been elected thrice like him,” he said.
Campaigning in Ahmednagar constituency, Mr. Advani expressed confidence that the next government at the Centre would be formed under Mr. Modi and that it would change the face of the country.
Recalling his 1990 rath yatra in demand of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Mr. Advani said Mr. Modi had accompanied him then.
Manmohan ‘without any power’
Criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a person with a post, but without any power, he said: “We formed three new States, but problems like Telangana never arose. Despite economic restrictions imposed by America after the Pokharan blasts, we never let inflation go out of hand.”
Natural calamities such as earthquakes and cyclones were handled competently by the Vajpayee government, Mr. Advani pointed out. “Had he [Mr. Vajpayee] got one more chance in office, we would have completed the project of connecting rivers, for the benefit of farmers,” he said.
Ironically, unlike Mr. Modi’s rally in Nanded two days ago, top Maharashtra BJP leaders were absent from Mr. Advani’s rally on Monday. “They are busy campaigning in different places,” said a BJP leader on condition of anonymity.