CHENNAI: The former Bharatiya Janata Party president, L.K. Advani, on Sunday said the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and other States would propel a big change for the party's political fortunes.

At the 37th anniversary of Thuglak, a Tamil weekly edited by `Cho' S. Ramaswamy, he said a few days ago it was said the BJP was virtually out of the race in Uttar Pradesh. Some even said the party would be fighting for the `bronze.' But the situation had changed radically, as shown by the mammoth rally taken out recently in Lucknow.

Referring to the current trends in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Goa, he said the poll outcome would "pave the way for a major leap forward." The BJP was not obsessed with vote-bank politics.

The party had succeeded in transforming the five-decade-old "uni-polar polity, dominated by the Congress, into a bi-polar polity with the BJP and the Congress as two national poles." He assailed the demand for reservation for Muslims.

"We are strongly opposed to this, as we believe that reservation on the basis of religion is a deeply divisive and decidedly dangerous move," he said.

He criticised Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil's reported remark that the Government could take six to seven years to decide on Afzal Guru's clemency petition in the Parliament attack case. "Now that the Supreme Court has turned down his curative petition, there should be no further delay in implementing the death sentence," he said.

The United Progressive Alliance Government had failed on two fronts — controlling the prices of essential commodities and ensuring the country's internal security.

Responding to queries by some readers, Mr. Ramaswamy said the BJP should initiate the spadework for the next elections right now by forming an alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam in the State.

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