The Hindu : Cong. dominance is over: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 14, 2003

National

National

Cong. dominance is over: BJP

By Neena Vyas

The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, being congratulated by the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, in New Delhi on Monday, on having completed four years as head of the NDA Government. — AP

NEW DELHI OCT. 13. Celebrating the completion of four years in office by the National Democratic Alliance Government headed by the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Bharatiya Janata Party today predicted that Congress dominance in Indian politics had ended forever and that the party which had ruled the country for more than four decades was now in "irreversible decline".

The morning began with the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, a host of Ministers, MPs and almost all the BJP office-bearers led by the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, meeting Mr. Vajpayee at his residence to congratulate him. Several leaders of the coalition parties also met the Prime Minister to congratulate him. Mr. Vajpayee reportedly said that the achievement was the result of the collective work of the BJP, its leaders and workers and the NDA parties.

Already Mr. Vajpayee has served as Prime Minister longer than all but Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and Mr. Naidu promised that after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the path would be clear for Mr. Vajpayee to break Indira Gandhi's record too.

Before the leaders left the central party office for Race Course Road, workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets to mark the occasion. The party office itself wore a festive look, decorated with garlands of marigolds.

Mr. Naidu emphasised that the NDA had proved the Congress wrong on several counts. The Congress had doubted the ability of any other party to provide stability. It had also questioned the very idea of a coalition government providing stability and good governance. The BJP had kept its promise to the people to provide a government to give stability, maintain unity and bring clarity of purpose to governance. Moreover, Mr. Vajpayee was the "first leader" from "pure non-Congress stock" to become Prime Minister.

He asserted that the Congress had failed to unite the Opposition, its leadership had not been accepted, and although the Congress had signalled its willingness to accept a coalition government, there were no takers. He recalled the political events in Maharashtra, where the Congress and its alliance partner, Nationalist Congress Party, had been exchanging uncivil words, and Kerala, where the former Congress Chief Minister has been challenging the present Chief Minister, to argue that the Congress leadership seemed "helpless".

"The sun of Congress dominance in national politics has set for ever," declared Mr. Naidu, claiming that the BJP had brought about a "fundamental shift" in Indian politics.

Finally, Mr. Naidu was effusive about the economic situation and certain that by 2020, India would become a developed and prosperous nation. For the last four years inflation had been low, averaging three per cent, foreign exchange reserves were at an all time high at $100 billion, external debts were being paid before schedule, exports were growing and the granaries overflowing.

It was in this context that he described the attack on the Government by the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, during the no-confidence debate two months ago as "undignified". By describing the Government claim of achieving close to eight per cent GDP growth as "Mungerilal ke haseen sapne" she had shown lack of confidence in Indian farmers, industry and entrepreneurs, Mr. Naidu said.

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