In Bastar, long after his rath yatra kicked up dust in this backward tribal belt of Chhattisgarh, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today skipped the Ram temple issue.Instead, he chose to set a different election agenda — focussing on development and the ‘‘right kind’’ of leadership. More relevance was perhaps added by the reason for his visit to lay the foundation stone for the Rs 300-crore mega steel plant, the first in this mineral-rich but backward region.Despite an enthusiastic crowd repeating ‘‘Jai Sri Ram’’ to draw Advani’s attention, the DPM spoke of the Somnath temple at the rally he addressed. ‘‘Two days from now (September 25), I am visiting Somnath temple, from where I started my rath yatra to Ayodhya this day. Remember how Somnath temple was rebuilt. It was a government decision to rebuild this ancient temple demolished by foreign invaders. Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru went all out for it and Gandhiji also blessed,’’ he reminded but fell short off saying more on the Ayodhya dispute.In BJP’s first rally in the tribal belt, Advani tried to play up the development card against Ajit Jogi’s tribal agenda. A few hours before Advani’s rally, Chief Minister Jogi asked Advani to clear a Rs 1,453 crore socio-economic package for Bastar and clear a railway project — hanging fire for want of environmental clearances. The two leaders were present at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the steel plant, 19 km from Jagdalpur at Nagarnar. Jogi also gave a fact sheet of his two-and-half-year performance of having spent Rs 116 crore on roads and bridges here, beside sanctioning a tribal university. Advani chose to counter him at the BJP rally, asking the Congress why poverty and hunger still continue to be a biggest issue even 50 years after Independence. New states, including Chhattisgarh, formed to ensure that benefits of development reach tribals, cannot progress due to lack of competent leaders.‘‘Time has come to send the Congress packing and bring a right kind of leadership. You will be doing a great favour to yourself, if Congress is given some rest,’’ said the DPM. Advani took credit for the creation of Chhattisgarh and claimed that PM A.B. Vajpayee is now concerned about the development of the newly-carved states. The DPM endorsed the demand for a railway line to Bastar and assured to advocate Bastar’s cause with Railway Minister Nitish Kumar. ‘‘If railway line to Kashmir is our biggest priority, so is Bastar,’’ he said.Highlighting the Vajpayee Government’s achievements, Advani said the biggest contribution of the government was stability it had given to the nation in the past five years. ‘‘In 10 years from 1990, we had seven Prime Ministers but in five years, one PM. This too, when Vajpayee leads a coalition of 20-plus parties,’’ he added. It was because of stability, that development and security of the nation had been assured.
