LK Advani in Kerela
Congress deserves punishment, not a second innings; 3rd and 4th Fronts are irrelevant; BJP-led NDA is the only alternative
In three days from now, Indian voters will participate in the first phase of polling in the elections to 15th Lok Sabha. In exactly a month from now, on May 13, the fifth and last phase of polling will be over. It is becoming clearer by the day that the main contest for forming the next government in New Delhi is between the BJP-led NDA (which is the only cohesive pre-poll alliance at the national level) and the Congress (whose own UPA alliance has disintegrated).
The so-called Third Front and Fourth Front are irrelevant as far as forming the next government on their own under their leadership. They are opportunist platforms, having neither a common platform nor a common leader. The CPI(M) is trying to be active in both to hide its own growing irrelevance. The people of India know that a 3rd Front or 4th Front government would be disastrous.
The contrast between the NDA and its rivals is stark. At no place are constituents of our alliance fighting against each other. On the other hand, parties which are still part of the UPA government are contesting against each other. Some have openly stated that Dr. Manmohan Singh is a prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party, and not theirs. Some have shared election platforms with Third Front parties.
What emerges from the disarray in the UPA government is that the Congress has failed to keep its alliance together and that its failure is principally because its allies think that the Congress is untrustworthy. This being the case, the handicap that the Congress is facing is two-fold. Firstly, it carries the enormous burden of anti-incumbency due to the UPA government’s failures and betrayals on multiple fronts (price rise, joblessness, plight of farmers, and failure to tackle terrorism). Secondly, it has lost the faith of its own allies.
The first handicap has earned the Congress popular anger across the country. The second has earned the Congress its allies’ distrust. The growing mood in India is that the Congress deserves punishment, not a second innings.
Therefore, I am convinced that the defeat of the Congress is certain. The only alternative before the electorate to form a government at the Centre, committed to the principles of GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY, is the BJP-led NDA. I appeal to the voters, including those in Kerala, to give a clear and decisive mandate to the BJP and its allies in the NDA so that the next government in New Delhi is strong, stable and capable of effectively facing the challenges before the nation, both internal and external.
* * *
In three days from now, Indian voters will participate in the first phase of polling in the elections to 15th Lok Sabha. In exactly a month from now, on May 13, the fifth and last phase of polling will be over. It is becoming clearer by the day that the main contest for forming the next government in New Delhi is between the BJP-led NDA (which is the only cohesive pre-poll alliance at the national level) and the Congress (whose own UPA alliance has disintegrated).
The so-called Third Front and Fourth Front are irrelevant as far as forming the next government on their own under their leadership. They are opportunist platforms, having neither a common platform nor a common leader. The CPI(M) is trying to be active in both to hide its own growing irrelevance. The people of India know that a 3rd Front or 4th Front government would be disastrous.
The contrast between the NDA and its rivals is stark. At no place are constituents of our alliance fighting against each other. On the other hand, parties which are still part of the UPA government are contesting against each other. Some have openly stated that Dr. Manmohan Singh is a prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party, and not theirs. Some have shared election platforms with Third Front parties.
What emerges from the disarray in the UPA government is that the Congress has failed to keep its alliance together and that its failure is principally because its allies think that the Congress is untrustworthy. This being the case, the handicap that the Congress is facing is two-fold. Firstly, it carries the enormous burden of anti-incumbency due to the UPA government’s failures and betrayals on multiple fronts (price rise, joblessness, plight of farmers, and failure to tackle terrorism). Secondly, it has lost the faith of its own allies.
The first handicap has earned the Congress popular anger across the country. The second has earned the Congress its allies’ distrust. The growing mood in India is that the Congress deserves punishment, not a second innings.
Therefore, I am convinced that the defeat of the Congress is certain. The only alternative before the electorate to form a government at the Centre, committed to the principles of GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY, is the BJP-led NDA. I appeal to the voters, including those in Kerala, to give a clear and decisive mandate to the BJP and its allies in the NDA so that the next government in New Delhi is strong, stable and capable of effectively facing the challenges before the nation, both internal and external.
* * *
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