NDA`s show of unity,Nitish shares stage with Modi, TRS present

Rakesh Chaturvedi and Rajeev Bhaskar

Ludhiana (Punjab), May 10 (PTI) In a show of unity,
Leaders of India's main opposition alliance -- National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- Sunday came together here at a
rally at which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shed his
reservations to share the stage with his Gujarat counterpart
and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and Chief
Ministers of NDA-ruled states among others attended the rally
in which the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which fought the
elections in alliance with the Left parties and Telugu Desam
Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, appeared on the NDA platform in
a major boost to the BJP-led front. The rally in Punjab's
industrial city hosted by Akali Dal chief and Punjab Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal was also billed as a show of
strength ahead of the counting of votes on May 16.

Nitish Kumar, who is being wooed by the Congress and the
Left for a post-poll tie-up and who said he will never share
the dais with Modi, lashed out at the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) for its "indifferent attitude" towards
non-Congress ruled states at the time of disbursement of funds
during natural calamities. Nitish alleged how Bihar had not
received a "single penny" as relief to deal with the major
Kosi flood crisis.

When Modi came to the dais, he straight away went to
Nitish and greeted him. Modi clasped Nitish's hand and raised
it in a display of unity.

In a blistering attack on the UPA, Advani claimed that
the Congress-led Front had disintegrated and that it had no
"single achievement" to its credit during its five-year rule.

TRS Chief K Chandrashekar Rao, who sprang a surprise with
his presence, said his party will support the NDA and get
"other friends" to join as well.

BJP president Rajnath Singh and his colleagues Sushma
Swaraj and Gopinath Munde, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, JD
(U)'s Sharad Yadav, RLD chief Ajit Singh, INLD chief Om
Prakash Chautala, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa,
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Punjab Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also attended the rally.

Chandra Mohan Patowary (AGP) and Bimal Gurung (Gorkha
Janamukti Morcha) were also present.

Rao alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
betrayed the people of Telengana.

Countering Congress's charge that NDA was a sinking ship,
Advani said,"if we have lost one ally we have gained five
new ones" and referred to the presence of seven Chief
ministers and other leaders present on the stage.

"On one hand there is NDA which is going strong for
the past 11 years whereas the UPA, which started with a bang,
has completely distintegrated today," he said.

Advani said he had participated in all the Lok Sabha
elections till date directly and indirectly, "but this is the
first government I have seen which does not have any
achievement to show." He also criticised the UPA for being
biased against NDA-ruled states.

Citing Bihar as an example of Centre's discrimination
towards non-Congress states, Nitish said "when the PM visited
Bihar during the Kosi floods,he declared it a national
disaster. They proclaimed that Bihar government asked for Rs
1,000 crore but they gave us Rs 1,010 crore. I am sad to say
that thus far we have'nt received a penny from the Centre."

"And for relief, the Rs 1,000 crore they had given,
after the polling in the Kosi area was over, exactly 20
minutes after that at 5.20 PM,we received a fax from the
central government asking for that Rs 1,200 crore back."

During the time of a natural calamity when everybody
helps each other, the Centre is more concerned about getting
its money back, Nitish said. "Its shameful for the country."

Rejecting Congress and Left overtures, Nitish said
there was "no possibility" of his being in touch with non-NDA
parties and asked the people to bring the BJP-led alliance to
power to "avenge" the Centre's attitude towards his state.

Modi raked up the Quattrocchi issue and also accused
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of doing nothing for the cause
of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

"I want to question the Prime Minister that why in the
midst of elections, he was worried about Quattrocchi being
harassed and cleared his file, but (still) remains silent when
lakhs of our Tamil brothers are going through tough time in
Sri Lanka?" Modi asked.

Countering Rahul Gandhi's overtures to woo Sikhs during
his election rallies in Punjab yesterday, Modi said if the
party is so concerned about the community then why had the
then Congress regime shown "haste" in carrying out death
sentence of a Sikh youth, who was charged with the killing of
the then Army chief General Vaidya in the 1980s. PTI