It’s Hindutva, Ram again for Advani

Hindutva and Ram temple seemed completely irrelevant to Himachal’s poll campaign till former Deputy Prime Minister...

Hindutva and Ram temple seemed completely irrelevant to Himachal’s poll campaign till former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP leader L K Advani re-identified himself with the Ram temple issue, barely 45 minutes prior to the end of the second phase of campaigning on Monday. Advani termed BJP’s support for Ram temple as historic and crucial for re-inventing the party.

Addressing the BJP’s election rally here, Advani recalled Palampur session of the party wherein for the first time a resolution was adopted to construct the Ram temple at Ayodhya. This, he said, marked the party’s resolve to identify itself with a movement that was associated with the Hindu organisations. Thereafter, it was his historic Rathyatra from Somnath to Ayodhya that positioned the party as major political force and its tally in Parliament rose from two to 89 seats. The BJP workers participating in the rally cheered him with “Advani ji ko Jai Shri Ram”.

Advani also made reference to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, lauding him for development and good governance. “In Gujarat, the people have given a mandate in favour of Modi, here in Himachal the BJP will form the Government under Prem Kumar Dhumal’s leadership. And BJP will replicate Gujarat’s model of development in Himachal,” he said, adding that as an immediate fallout of the election results, Lok Sabha elections will happen early next year.

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The BJP leader attacked the Congress for following a policy of appeasement and treating Muslims as a vote-bank. He also blamed the Centre for price rise and attacked the Left parties for Nandigram violence. Advani paid tributes to the security personnel who had thwarted attack on Parliament.

‘India Shining slogan was a mistake’

Shimla: The BJP on Monday admitted that its “India Shining” slogan used in the run up to 2004 Lok Sabha elections was a “mistake”. “India Shining slogan was a mistake. The better slogan would have been India Rising”, Advani, who was Deputy PM when the slogan was coined, said in Shimla.