The Hindu : National : I hope to see India as superpower: Advani

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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I hope to see India as superpower: Advani

Meena Menon

MUMBAI: BJP leader L.K. Advani hopes to see India as a superpower in the 21st century. This is possible because, unlike in the past, even the common man is looking at the country’s capabilities with renewed respect, he said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a function to launch his book My Country, My Life here, Mr. Advani said India was a vibrant, vigorous democracy and to sustain it for so long had been “our strength.” One had only to look at the neighbouring country to see how true this was. However, he said, Pakistan just had elections and he wished the new Prime Minister good luck and hoped that democracy would become strong there.

The BJP leader said he would write the next chapter of his book when India became a number one world power and for this the entire country would have to work very hard.

Significant moment

Mr. Advani said he stepped into the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh when he was 14 and that was a significant moment in his life. After that, there were 10 such important events which made him what he was now.

Mr. Advani said the culture and tradition that he imbibed at a young age from the RSS moulded his personality, and he paid tributes to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, his mentor, who was a selfless person. He said he was fortunate that his family did not take advantage of his position in public life. “Without my wife [Kamla] I can’t do anything from food to finance.” Had it not been for his family, which insisted on his writing the book, it would not have come about.

Mr. Advani said he wrote the prologue after August 15, 2007 and the epilogue in January 2008 after a trip to the Parmarth Niketan in Hrishikesh. After writing the book, he derived happiness and meaning in life, something which most people felt was difficult to achieve.

The function was attended by the former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi; P.C. Alexander, MP; BJP national general secretary Gopinath Munde; and State BJP president Nitin Gadkari.

A host of film actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vinod Khanna came to pay their respects to Mr. Advani.

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