The Hindu : We cannot rest on our laurels: PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 26, 2003

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We cannot rest on our laurels: PM

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI DEC. 25. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today called upon his party and supporters to prepare themselves for the "next opportunity'' knocking at their doors. The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has given them the necessary confidence, but "we cannot rest on our laurels," he said.

Addressing party workers and supporters at his 7 Race Course Road residence here to celebrate "Vijay Vikas Parva'' coinciding with his 79th birthday celebrations, the Prime Minister said people all over the globe were looking towards India with hope and apprehensions. "Instead of patting ourselves on the back for the victory of our party at the recently-concluded Assembly elections, we should remind ourselves that we have a long way to go. So we should get our act together and be prepared to face the future challenges.''

Flanked by the BJP national president, Venkaiah Naidu, and the BJP Delhi president, Harsh Vardhan, the Prime Minister said: "We must ponder why people have come out in support of the party in huge numbers in the three States where we have secured a victory recently. Before the elections, the picture was hazy and the poll surveys did not paint a bright picture. However, people in all the three States probably felt that the party was giving expression to their innermost thoughts,'' he said.

Pointing out that there was a unanimous feeling that the party represented national interest and that "they can make mistakes but never let the country down," the Prime Minister said this was the reason why people had placed faith in the BJP in spite of the fact that the best efforts made by his Government to restore peace and friendly relations with Pakistan, including a personal visit to Lahore on his part was immediately followed by many Indian soldiers dying in the Kargil war.

"However, people have confidence in us and that is why they forgave our mistakes. They know that our intentions are genuine and that we always act in the national interest.''

Mr. Vajpayee said the circumstances had given the party another opportunity to prove itself and therefore, the responsibility had increased manifold. "We have proved that coalition politics can be successful. We have our differences of opinion but when it comes to public interest, we are all one. If others take the path we take, they too can be successful, but they will not be able to do it,'' he said, adding: "Circumstances are knocking at our doors again. We have been successful but we cannot be complacent.''

Calling upon partymen and supporters to discharge their duty wherever they are, the Prime Minister said that "we have to work with co-operation and put up a united show of strength. In earlier times, this was part of our nature but now it is becoming increasingly difficult in certain quarters. Those were the days when we used to win less and taste defeat often. However, we jumped into the playfield without losing time ready to play kabaddi once more.''

Felicitating the Prime Minister, Mr. Naidu said the entire nation was proud of Mr. Vajpayee's leadership and he was proving to be the most popular Prime Minister since Independence.

He announced that the party was aiming at a comfortable two-thirds majority in the next Lok Sabha elections and called it "`Mission 2004''.

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