The Hindu : Vajpayee will be our leader: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 30, 2003

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National

Vajpayee will be our leader: Advani

By Our Special Correspondent

Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

The Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, presenting a white flower (memento) to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the occasion of the completion of five years rule of the National Democratic Alliance, in New Delhi on Saturday. The BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, the Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, and Sharad Yadav are also seen.

NEW DELHI MARCH 29. Leaders of the BJP and the allied parties today showered praise on the "sagacity" of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and for successfully steering the coalition government with distinction.

The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, sought to list the achievements of the Vajpayee-led NDA Government and said that few countries in the world would have seen such an arrangement, which ushered in not just political stability but strengthened nationalism and the federal structure. He expressed confidence that the NDA Government, which was often confronted with questions on its longevity in 1998, had gone the distance. He also hoped that it would continue to be guided by Mr. Vajpayee's leadership.

Among the allies, the DMK leader and Union Minister, T.R. Baalu, said that the allies from Tamil Nadu, including the PMK and the MDMK were with the BJP even though they were being targeted by the AIADMK Government in the State. Despite the hardships, the allies did not demand any action against the State Government.

The Janata Dal(United) chief, Sharad Yadav, spoke about the `commitment' of the Vajpayee Government to eradicate starvation deaths, while the Samata Party president, George Fernandes, said the biggest challenge was creating employment. While the national highways plan generated over 2.5 lakh jobs, it was not being publicised just as the Government failed to project the fact that the number of small-scale units had gone up during the past five years.

The Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, said the Government should try to help the farmers more to tide over the current problem, sort out the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link Plan and suggested the launching of a pension plan for the aged.

The Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Parkash Singh Badal, said the advent of the NDA Government brought about a change in Centre-State relations from confrontation to cooperation.

The notable feature of today's function was the return of the Trinamool Congress president, Mamata Banerjee, who shared the stage. She lashed out at the Congress and its policies claiming the party could never be successful in running a multi-party government.

Much of what the BJP chief, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said revolved around the Vajpayee Government's success in containing terrorism, which it inherited from the Congress. The Vajpayee Government suffered on account of the ``irresponsible and immature'' Opposition.

The participation of leaders from other allies, including the Biju Janata Dal, the PMK, the DMK, the Shiv Sena, the J & K National Conference, the Sikkim Democratic Front and the Indian Federal Democratic Party, was limited to sharing centre-stage.

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