Advani accuses UPA of targeting BJP and NDA-ruled states

From Rakesh Mohan Chaturvedi
Lucknow(Uttar Pradesh), June 4 (PTI) India's
principal opposition party, BJP leader L K Advani Saturday
accused the UPA government of targeting BJP and NDA- ruled
states with a hostile and insidious attitude and asserted that
it will explore legal options along with the political fight
to deal with it.
While delivering his valedictory address at the
conclusion of the two-day national executive here, senior BJP
leader Advani said the United Progressive Alliance(UPA)
government had been attacking the federal structure of the
country.
The states in which Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP) and
National Democratic Alliance(NDA) were in power had to
suffer due to this.
He also emphasised on the role of Governors and how
the UPA government was using them against the opposition-ruled
states.
"If this attitude of the Centre continues then, along
with our political fight, we (BJP) will also look for a legal
recourse to combat it," BJP General secretary in-charge of UP
Narendra Singh Tomar said, quoting Advani.
Advani also referred to the fight against corruption
and how he had raised the issue of bringing back Indian black
money stashed abroad.
The issue is in currency these days due to Baba
Ramdev's fast.
Advani stated that when BJP raised the issue of
corruption in 2G spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games and
black money, then others had laughed at it.
He called for more efforts to bring back black money
from tax havens abroad.
The senior BJP leader praised the role of civil
society members in the crusade for a Lokpal Bill in the
country.
Advani, however, maintained that there was no lack
of laws to fight corruption and it is a dearth of seriousness
on the part of the Congress-led government which was
responsible for rampant graft.
"The fight for a Lokpal(Ombudsman) Bill has been
going on for long.
The civil society members came forward which
definitely strengthened this fight," Advani said, adding that
the country needed an effective Lokpal.
He alleged that the Congress is not sincere about the
fight against corruption and this had led people to support
creation of a Lokpal.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who
also spoke at the party conclave, said people's hunger will
not be satiated by statistics being cited by the government.
She enumerated several issues where the UPA
government had failed to take action leading to a mess.
"The Centre does not have the will to fight naxalism.
It is soft on Binayak Sen who was charged and arrested for
suppoprting naxals.
Yet the government has made him a member of a
Planning Commission panel," Swaraj said, according to Tomar.
She alleged that while the government kept saying the
production of foodgrains had gone up, yet grains were rotting
and the people did not have access to them.
The senior leader said UPA ministers lacked calibre
and seriousness.
This was seen when External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna had read out the speech of his counterpart from
Portugal during a UN convention, she said.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari announced that in July
and August, the party will take out padyatras (marches) at the
district and village level and in September, BJP will hold
rallies at the district and mandal level and these will be led
by the state leadership.