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BJP’s silver jubilee : Renewed commitment to RSS links |
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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national council meeting held in New Delhi to mark the party’s silver jubilee, has renewed the party’s association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Party president L.K. Advani speaking at the national council meeting said the workers should grasp the truth of the RSS link and strengthen bonds with organisations and individuals in the larger fraternity of the Sangh Parivar. He said the party must go back to the path of cultural nationalism, or Hindutva, and reaffirm its total commitment to the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
As part of the cultural nationalism plank, Advani talked of the demographic invasion from Bangladesh which, he said, could lead to a second partition of India. He said the country should beware of faster population growth among Muslims.
Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan said that anybody who chose to associate with the BJP should know that BJP’s links with the RSS should be consider as given in an affidavit. He said that there is no need to hide the party’s agenda or its commitment to its ideology.
Advani said that one of the main factors responsible for the BJP’s defeat in last year’s general elections was the failure to nurse its core-constituency. He said the party had not adequately contacted those who supported it because of the shared ideology. Speaker after speaker at the meeting talked about the excellent work done by the BJP and the NDA Government it headed for six years. The delegates criticised Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Manmohan Singh Government for not starting any new schemes for development.
Advani said there are signs of disintegration of the United Progressive Alliance.
There was a renewed focus at the national council meeting on the issue of “foreign” origin of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Participants in the meeting criticised Sonia Gandhi for playing the role of what they called “Super Prime Minister.” They said Manmohan Singh is the weakest Prime Minister India has had.
The BJP said that the Congress leadership has been exposed by its handling of Goa and Jharkhand and the opportunistic tactics adopted during the Bihar elections. The political resolution said the Congress party heads the UPA but provides no leadership to it. It has a mindset that rejects “coalition dharma.” The party said the common man is now groaning under unprecedented price rise in the UPA Government dispensation.
A significant aspect of the BJP national council meeting was former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement that he is tired and can work only to an extent, and not beyond. Party sources, however, say that it does not mean that Vajpayee would be taking virtual retirement from party politics.
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