The BJP-led NDA’s selling points seem to be increasing with every halt DPM L.K. Advani makes. So on Sunday, it was a mix of bijli, sadak, pani, development, world image, and, Ayodhya, of course.Cruising along Chhattisgarh’s newly-metalled roads, Advani promised basic amenities — bijli, sadak, swasthya, pani — in all six lakh villages in the country by 2020. He called upon the voters to give PM Vajpayee the mandate for another term so he could fulfill his promises.‘‘In all these five years, we have laid a foundation for assured development and it’s on the basis of our performance in the NDA that we are asking you for another term,’’ he told a town gathering. The credibility of the Vajpayee government has increased by leaps and bounds through the six years of its rule, he said. Accusing the Congress of failing to take India to the league of developed nations, he said: ‘‘The party could not convert swaraj into suraj during 50 years of its rule.’’ The country wanted to return Vajpayee to power, he said, adding that the NDA rule had brought political stability and restarted the development process in the country.Hitting out at the Congress for ‘‘misrule’’ and ‘‘lack of development’’ in the past 50 years of its rule at the Centre, Advani said the party must do some ‘‘soul-searching’’ as to why it had lost acceptability. The Congress would not make it across a three-digit tally in the elections, he said.‘‘I won’t comment on youths who have just joined politics,’’ DPM L.K. Advani on Sunday on Rahul Gandhi’s claims that the BJP was raking up Bofors and the issue of the foreign origin of his mother Sonia Gandhi to serve its political interests. Rahul made the statement during his campaign in Amethi. Earlier addressing series of meetings atop his bus, in Bilaspur, Jangir-Champa, Kharsia and Raigarh, a Congress stronghold, Advani said the BJP was committed to the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya. ‘‘The government will take effective steps towards construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya,’’ he said amidst cheers.The yatra, which entered Chhattisgarh via Jashpur, received tremendous response in the region. Former union minister Dilip Singh Judeo accompanied Advani in Jashpur and Raigarh districts.
