Dr Singh’s govt is in ICU, says Advani

BY PARUL CHANDRA

Kanpur

June 27: On a rain-soaked evening on Friday, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Mr L.K. Advani, spoke about not one but two mandirs while formally kickstarting his party’s election campaign here on Friday.

So while he chose to raise the pitch once again about building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, he also tried to infuse a moderate and emotive element in his speech by mentioning the "Bharat Mata ka mandir" his party proposes to "build".

Readying for the electoral battle at the Vijay Sankalp (resolve to win) rally, the aspirant for the PM’s job described the UPA government as a "dysfunctional" one. He said it has lost the moral right to remain in office and should seek the people’s mandate.

Further, he said that if the Left were to withdraw its support over the nuclear deal, then the government should seek a vote of confidence. While the rain did seem to play spoilsport at the rally touted by the BJP as the one that would sound the poll bugle, Mr Advani tried to make up for it with his rhetoric at the historic Phoolbagh Maidan here.

The hundreds who braved the rains were soaked to the skin as they gathered within the sprawling Maidan to hear Mr Advani promise them good governance, development, security and one that would not see the aam admi (common man) suffer because of spiralling prices.

While senior state unit leaders were present to support Mr Advani, neither BJP president Rajnath Singh nor former chief minister Kalyan Singh were there to lend support to his battle cry.

Mr Advani launched a stinging attack on the UPA government and the Congress in particular. And chose to repeat his recent description of the present government. "Dr Manmohan Singh may be a ‘doctor’, but his government right now is in the ICU."

The "shadow" PM lashed out at the actual PM, stating that while he is "a good man and an honest man", he can only pity Dr Singh. For, he said, all roads still lead to 10, Janpath (Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s residence) instead of 7, Race Course Road (the PM’s residence).

Mr Advani, who has in the recent past been quoted as saying that the construction of the Ram temple is possible without confrontation, appeared to fall back on Hindutva rhetoric at the rally, though briefly.

"The country’s people will not be satisfied until the temple is constructed in Ayodhya. People want to see the Ram mandir," said the BJP leader. But in the very next sentence, Mr Advani appeared to appeal to the moderate constituents by talking about the need to build a "Bharat Mata ka rashtra mandir".

This, he said, would be a mandir where no village in India would be without water, electricity, roads, education, etc. "These will be the fully developed villages of India," said the BJP leader.

Indeed, Bharat Mata was the leitmotif of his speech as he even concluded his speech by saying, "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Vande Mataram". Earlier in his speech, he told the gathering, "When you go back home you need to decide how Bharat Mata can be made victorious."

To achieve this, he said, the BJP could be the vehicle. Seeking indirect support for his party, he said the victory should be not that of his party but of Bharat Mata. He also exhorted the gathering to ensure that India attains the number one position in the world.

Regarding internal security, which will be among the main campaign issues of the BJP, Mr Advani hit out at the UPA government for having repealed POTA. This, he stated, had sent terrorists the message that they need not fear the government. "We will make arrangements to ensure that terrorists run scared," assured the BJP leader.