Political Bureau
Economic Times
August 14, 1999
Title: Election, a referendum on Vajpayee govt's performance, says Advani Author: Political Bureau Publication: Economic Times Date: August 14, 1999 THE BJP on Friday formally converted the coming parliamentary polls into a presidential contest when the party's chief strategist L K Advani projected the coming electoral bout as a referendum on the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the performance of the government led by him. Mr Advani, who emphasised that incumbency was the government's principal strength, said the national mood point to the electorate's willingness to renew Mr Vajpayee's lease over New Delhi. ``Every single incumbent since the elections in 1971 has gone to the people in dread of an anti-incumbency wave. This is the first election after 28 years in which the government is going to the people riding a pro-incumbent crest,'' Mr Advani told reporters here at a press conference. Mr Advani, who described Mr Vajpayee as a Prime Minister without peer, said that the choice before the electorate is quite clear. ``The options are unattractive. The principal Opposition is projecting someone who does not belong to our land; who does not understand the nation's moorings, and completely alienated from the problems confronting the country,'' the Union home minister said. Mounting a scathing attack on the Congress Mr Advani said that last 18 months had demonstrated its ``total incapacity even as an Opposition formation'' and its inability to understand the nation's reflexes. ``The irresponsibility with which the Congress has conducted itself during these months has no parallel in the history of independent India.'' Mr Advani said the Congress, throughout the Kargil conflict, kept on making statements which, had they not been effectively countered, would certainly have demoralised the Indian troops. Mr Advani said when the nuclear tests were conducted at Pokharan in May last, the Congress had gone so far as to say that these were not called for as there was no security threat to the country. Stating that the mid-term polls disrupted the BJP-led alliance's governance at a crucial juncture, Mr Advani said, ``we all know who is to blame for this unnecessary poll and wholly unwarranted disruption''. This was the third time within three years that the Congress had brought down a government at the Centre and in each case, it did not care about the consequences for the country and governance which its actions would inflict, the home minister said. ``But, in a sense, the Congress has done well to provide the country with an opportunity to punish it for its gross irresponsibility". he said.Attacking the Communists - whom he said was waging a struggle for relevance in the country's political sphere, Mr Advani said they have already become ``palanquin bearers'' of the Congress in its fight against the BJP. ``The CPI has almost vanished and CPI(M) is bent upon committing harakiri,'' he said. The BJP, Mr Advani said, was entering the electoral battle with a clear winning edge over its opponents and it had the triple advantage of a ``tested and trusted'' prime ministerial candidate, a track record in government distinctly different in both content and character from previous regimes and a comprehensive agenda for governance that would enable them to build a proud and prosperous India. The BJP leader said in 1998, the dominant mood of the electorate was: ``We have tried all others, now let us give the BJP a chance.'' In 1999, however, the mood is: ``We have tested the BJP-led government for the first time and it has emerged with flying colours. Let us give them a full and decisive mandate.'' Recalling that when the BJP-led coalition assumed office in March last year, there was intense cynicism all around, Mr Advani said ``the conversion of that cynicism into an all-pervasive self-confidence, not only on account of Pokharan and Kargil, but also owing to the improved state of the economy had been our biggest achievement''.
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