Crores being spent to project Gandhi family brand: Advani

Kolkata, Jul 10 (PTI) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party
leader L K Advani of India on Sunday accused the United
Progressive Alliance government of spending crores to project
the Gandhi family brand through central projects and said it
was trying to replace democratic rule with "dynastic rule".
Speaking at the 110th birth anniversary function of Dr
Shyama Prasad Mookerjee the former deputy prime minister said
that 450 central projects were running in the country either
in the name of Nehru, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi.
Various amounts were being spent on the projects, he
said, adding, "Crores of rupees are being spent to project a
family brand. Is this democracy? Democratic rule is being
converted to dynastic rule".
Describing Mookerjee as an extraordinary soldier who laid
down his life to keep the country united, Advani said, "his
birthday was on July 6. But did the All India Radio broadcast
any special programme on the occasion? It seems the
Independence of the country and its subsequent development has
been brought about by only one family and no one else".
Advani said that he once pointed inside the Indian
Parliament that five new projects have been named after Nehru,
Indira and Rajiv.
"I asked the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) who was
in the House whether there was no one else in the country
after whom the projects can be named. I told him, if you
cannot find anyone, then why not name a project after the
prime minister who made you the finance minister?"
Advani said although Mookerjee, along with B R Ambedkar,
was involved in drafting the Constitution, he had never
accepted the idea of a separate constitution for Kashmir,
India's northermost region.
"In 1953, Jammu and Kashmir had a separate flag than the
national tricolour. Shyama Prasad's campaign was to raise the
national flag in J&K in which many died," the former BJP
president said.
Stating that some leaders in Kashmir were demanding a
pre-1953 position for the state, Advani said, "does this mean
that there will be a separate President and Prime Minister for
the state? That the national tricolour will not fly there?
That the Supreme Court of India, nor the CAG, nor the Election
Commission would have jurisdiction there? No BJP activist can
accept this".
He expressed hope that Article 370 of the Constitution
would be repealed some day.