The Hindu : National : It's time Congress did some soul-searching, says Advani

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Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

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National

It's time Congress did some soul-searching, says Advani

By Prafulla Das

SAMBALPUR, APRIL 13. It was time the Congress did some soul-searching over the gradual loss of strength which started in the aftermath of the 1984 general elections, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, said here today.

Addressing a public meeting in this western Orissa town on the penultimate day of his Bharat Uday Yatra, Mr. Advani said that the decaying of the Congress began in the early 1970s when Jayaprakash Narayan urged the Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Jansangh, to launch a movement against corruption in the country. But the 1984 general election was the turning point, he added.

He said that the Congress secured over 400 seats in the 1984 elections when there was a sympathy wave in view of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The party had never bagged so many seats in the Lok Sabha even during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi.

Such was the response for the Congress in the 1984 polls that while the party got over 400 seats, his party bagged only two seats in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Advani said. However, after that the Congress started losing ground and the BJP started gaining strength, he added.

Stating that the gradual weakening of the Congress had resulted in the party getting only 112 seats in the 1999 elections, Mr. Advani said that it would not be a surprise if the party failed to cross the 100 mark in the coming elections.

Mr. Advani also criticised the Congress for not attending to the people's problems during its regime. "The Congress underestimated the political understanding of the common people," he said.

The people, he said, rejected the Congress and brought the National Democratic Alliance into power when Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised to solve the problems all sections of society. The process of development gained speed with Mr. Vajpayee starting work in various fields, including the road sector, he said while urging the people to vote the NDA.

At a press conference in Bolangir earlier in the day, Mr. Advani hit back at the Congress for its criticism on the unemployment scenario. "The NDA inherited the problem from the Congress," he said.

Mr. Advani said that during his Yatra he was able to see the remarkable progress the country had made in the last six years. It had also helped him to know about the enormous tasks that were to be accomplished. "One of these tasks is the creation of large-scale employment opportunities for out youth."

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the NDA manifesto stressed on creating employment opportunities in various sectors, including information technology, small-scale industries and housing projects. Efforts would be made to convert the public call offices across the country into multi-service information technology kiosks.

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