Date:05/01/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/01/05/stories/2003010504760100.htm

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Hindutva will remain BJP's main plank in polls

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR Jan. 4. The Congress and the "Nehruvian concept of distorted secularism'' came under attack from the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, as the Gujarat unit of the BJP decided to stick to its `Hindutva' agenda in the coming elections to the 89 municipalities and some district and taluka panchayats in the State.

Thanking the voters for overwhelmingly supporting the BJP's "cultural nationalism'' policy in the just-concluded Assembly elections, a political resolution unanimously adopted at the State executive committee meeting here today expressed the confidence that the electorate in other parts of the country would follow Gujarat's example and reject the "fatwa'' politics of the Congress.

The party's national general secretary, Arun Jaitley, who along with Mr. Advani attended the day-long meeting, made it clear that `Hindutva' would remain the main plank of the party in the coming elections and there was no question of back-tracking on its cultural nationalism agenda.

Addressing the meeting, Mr. Advani said `Hindutva' always believed in secularism but it was Jawaharlal Nehru, under the influence of communism, who sought to "distort'' Hindu secularism by distancing it from religion. He said there could be nothing more unfortunate than the `Ashoka Chakra', which symbolised Buddhism, adorning the national flag, but Hinduism was sought to be separated from nationalism.

Without naming the Congress, he said the followers of Pandit Nehru had further distorted secularism by practicing the "politics of appeasement'' of one community or the other.

The BJP's massive victory in the Gujarat elections amply demonstrated that the people rejected the pseudo-secularism and "politics of vote bank in the name of secularism'' and favoured his party's cultural nationalism which was secular and would always remain secular. He said the Gujarat voters had given a new direction to national politics by accepting the BJP's cultural nationalism concept.

Mr. Advani, at the same time, asked the BJP Government and specifically the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, to act with more responsibility as the massive mandate had cast upon the party the responsibility to usher in "Surajya'' to make Gujarat a "model State''. Security to the people and development should remain the corner stones of the Government in the State, he said.

Mr. Modi, in his speech said his Government would work for the "common man and the last man in the society'' and strive for the security, safety and all-round progress of the State. Specific constructive programmes would be drawn soon to achieve the objective.

The meeting decided to start preparations in right earnest for the 2004 Parliamentary elections and adopted the Chalo Gaon ki Oar (Go to Villages) programme under which the BJP leaders would visit each village in the State from January 16 to February 11 to "educate'' the people about the welfare schemes of the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government at the Centre in the last three years in comparison with the performance of the past Governments.

The party's State vice-president, Bhupendrasinh Solanki, said the BJP had decided to contest the elections to 89 municipalities, two district panchayats and some 15 taluka panchayats, likely to be held by the end of February, on the party symbol.