A week after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav hailed L K Advani, the BJP leader not only appealed to him to join the anti-Congress platform but also quoted and echoed the views of great socialist leader and Mulayam’s guru, Ram Manohar Lohia.
Advani was addressing a gathering after inaugurating The BJP’s two -day state executive in Chitrakoot. He left his party leaders guessing when he sounded soft on the SP and quoted Lohia.
On the first day of the meet, the usual clamour for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, seen in BJP conclaves, was missing in the home state of BJP chief Rajnath Singh. But there was a standing ovation for Advani, who was described as “rajniti ke sant”(saint in Indian politics).
Advani also avoided attacking the Akhilesh Yadav Government in UP and his appreciation for Lohia, in fact, snubbed the state unit, who had been waiting for their leader to guide them on their strategy to take on the SP in the Lok Sabha elections. He also predicted that no party would be able to form a government at Centre without the support of the Congress or the BJP. He said the scams, inefficiencies and incompetence of the UPA Government has scarred the image of the Congress, which would be defeated in 2014 elections that may be held even before.
‘India-Pak Partition a Great Blunder’
Advani started his speech by delving deep into his past memories and historical events and said that not only the Hindus, but also a good number of Muslims of Sindh in Pakistan strongly advocated for the reunification of India and Pakistan. He felt the partition was a great mistake. Advani recalled that BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was in favour of a confederation of the two countries as he felt the merger of the two nations into one was not possible. Upadhyaya’s views were lapped up by Lohia , who said it was a unique idea and should be pursued.
He said that he was impressed with the way Lohia inculcated a sense of patriotism and nationalism among the countrymen.