L K Advani, in a mellower mood delivering his presidential
address at the BJP National Covention in a rather defensive
has admitted the Congressisation of BJP though it has done
remarkably good in the past 25 years but was passing through
a bad patch in the past 25 weeks.
His remarks have come while BJP meets to mark its silver
jubilee under cloud with sting operations. The sex scandal
involving Sanjay Joshi, who resigned as party General Secretary,
has apparently demoralized the party further.
The party has been going through a turmoil ever since Advani's
visit to Pakistan where he praised Mohammed Ali Jinnah and
faced trouble within.
But after a brief self analysis, Advani gunned for Congress.
Accusing the Congress of "fathering" the culture
of corruption in the country, he asserted "we have to
reverse the distressing descent of some members into the disreputable
and corrupt Congress culture. Admittedly, their numbers are
miniscule."
At the same time, he said that unless the party resolved
to stop this tendency altogether, "we will lose our proud
claim to being a party with a difference. The BJP has a glorious
past. But a magnificent future awaits us. We must seize the
moment...We cannot afford to disappoint our one billion people."
The Convention was attended by top party leaders, including
former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and several former
Union Ministers including Jaswant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi
and Venkaiah Naidu and several party chief ministers, including
Narendra Modi of Gujarat, who came in for praise from Advani.
He demanded the resignation of Sonia Gandhi as Chairperson
of NAC in the wake of the Iraqi oil payoffs controversy and
accused the ruling party of being "desperate to hang"
former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh "the mere
messenger-cum-commission agent, and portray Gandhi as squeaky-clean."
"Power corrupts, but Congress power corrupts absolutely,"
he said alleging that the BJP has always believed that the
ruling party and its "dynasty" was the fountainhead
of all corruption and therefore the Congress should be ousted
from every layer of power.
"At times when Manmohan Singh puts his foot on the accelerator,
the Left parties apply brakes." he said amid peals of
laughter.
Advani was also eloquent on the Ayodhya issue. Reviving
the same issue again, The BJP chief said that the party's
"mission will not be complete till a temple befitting
Bhagwan Shri Ram is built at his place of birth."
