The Hindu : National : We will work for PM only from Lok Sabha: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 28, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

We will work for PM only from Lok Sabha: Advani

Manas Dasgupta

BJP will amend Constitution if voted to power

AHMEDABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate, L.K. Advani, on Friday threw a challenge to his Congress counterpart Manmohan Singh to contest the Lok Sabha elections now that he was named by the party its prime ministerial candidate.

Addressing a public meeting to launch the party’s election campaign in Gujarat, Mr. Advani, who is contesting from Gandhinagar, said if voted to power his party would amend the Constitution to ensure that only a person elected to the Lok Sabha could become the Prime Minister.

He said though at present the Constitution was not specific on the issue, its implied meaning was that the Prime Minister should be a direct representative of the people and not come through the indirectly elected Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Advani said he was happy that after many years, the Congress had at least named its prime ministerial candidate. “It was like in cricket that the captain will be decided only after the match is over,” Mr. Advani said amidst cheers from the crowd. “But more clarity in the situation will come only if Dr. Singh has the courage to announce that this time he wants to come through the Lok Sabha and not the Rajya Sabha,” Mr. Advani said.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi said he wondered why the Prime Minister had become “so touchy” at his being called a “weak” Prime Minister by Mr. Advani. “How many examples do you want to prove you the weakest Prime Minister,” he asked, and claimed that one Minister refused to attend any of the Cabinet meetings chaired by him in the last five years and yet Dr. Singh could not drop him from the Cabinet.

Sending a team to the United States in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack to seek support against Pakistan instead of “we ourselves going to Pakistan” was another proof of his weak government,” he claimed. He also described Dr. Singh as an “invisible” Prime Minister who was not missed by any one through his entire two months leave of absence recently on medical grounds.

Cautioning that the situation on the economic front could further deteriorate in the coming months, Mr. Advani said the people needed a “strong, decisive and honest government” at the Centre to tackle the situation effectively and claimed that only the BJP could foot the bills. “A party like the Congress, which cannot even manage its own allies, cannot be trusted with running the government at such a crucial juncture,” he said.

Mr. Advani said though he was a political rival, he felt “pained” rather than happy at the continuous degeneration of the Congress party in the country. Though supposed to be the biggest national party, the Congress was offered just six seats in Uttar Pradesh and three in Bihar. The party was left with no friends in the north, is being deserted by its allies in the south and had already been “left by the Left,” he said.

Accusing the UPA government of “partisanship” against the non-Congress governments in various States, Mr. Advani said such complaints were never heard during the NDA regime. “In federalism, partisanship is the biggest blot and this government every inch is partisan against non-Congress States,” he said.

Paying compliments to the U.S. administration for the security measures it took in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center that so far had prevented a second attack, Mr. Advani said similar steps were possible in India also provided the government in Delhi had the “courage and determination” to ward off terrorism. “It is not expected of the Congress administration,” he said.

All the 25 BJP candidates in the State, barring Junagadh where the party candidate was still to be named, were introduced to the people at the public meeting. They also took a collective oath to remain “loyal” to the people after the elections and fight for good causes.

Corrections and Clarifications

A sentence in the eighth paragraph of a report "We will work for PM only from Lok Sabha: Advani" (March 28, 2009) was "Though supposed to be the biggest national party, the Congress was offered just six seats in Uttar Pradesh and three in Bihar." As mentioned in an earlier report "SP offered 17 seats to Congress in Uttar Pradesh", Mr. Mulayam Singh said he had offered 17 seats to the Congress, notwithstanding the fact that the SP was better placed in some of them.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National