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It's a slander campaign: Advani

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI AUG. 17. Unfazed by the "scams'' against BJP Ministers in the NDA Government brought to light in recent days, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, today dismissed the "allegations'' as evidence of the desperation and frustration of an Opposition that is having difficulty in reconciling to the fact that the BJP is here to stay.

Inaugurating a meeting of the BJP Delhi unit here to launch its agenda for the Assembly elections in the Capital in 2003, Mr. Advani described the "scams'' as just a "slander campaign'' of a frustrated Opposition which is slowly but steadily realising that the party cannot be wished away easily. This realisation, according to him, had dawned upon the Opposition after the BJP won the Goa Assembly elections at a time when everyone had written the party off.

Though he sought to gloss over the "scams'', Mr. Advani saw nothing wrong in some organisations affiliated to the BJP being allotted prime land in the Capital.

For the most part, Mr. Advani's speech was aimed at lifting the spirit of party functionaries and telling them not to succumb to the anti-BJP propaganda. Given the fact that allegations against Central Ministers have caught the public imagination of late, he spent considerable time defending them. Also, he defended the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, and said the BJP would win the Assembly elections in the State whenever they are held.

Delivering the wrap-up speech later in the day, Mr. Naidu echoed Mr. Advani's views, albeit with a lavish sprinkling of his characteristic one-liners. Blaming the Congress for all the ills facing the country today, he said it was so desperate to regain power that it would stoop to any depths to conquer.

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