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UPA government failed on all fronts: Advani

Special Correspondent

L.K. Advani

KASARAGOD: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani has said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had failed on all fronts and surrendered the country’s interests to the United States.

Addressing a public function here in connection with the inauguration of the ‘Prakshobha Yatra,’ led by State Bharatiya Jana Yuva Morcha State president K. Surendran, on Monday night, Mr. Advani said the Manmohan Singh government had failed in maintaining internal security, checking unprecedented infiltration and corruption. Wondering how the government was going to face the people during the Lok Sabha elections, he said the India-U.S. nuclear deal was a surrender of the country’s nuclear option.

“If the Congress comes to you and tells that you will get nuclear energy only after 20 years, you should tell them that you will vote them after 20 years,” Mr. Advani said. The government had surrendered to the U.S. the country’s right to conduct nuclear test, he added.

He said the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had undertaken a number of schemes, including road projects, telecommunication and Information Technology projects, and welfare schemes such as the Kisan credit card. He said he could not understand how the Left parties supported the UPA government for over four years without even agreeing on the common agenda. This alliance between the UPA and the Left had done great damage to the country, he said. Over 1.5 crore people had infiltrated from Bangladesh during the period. The Congress and the Left parties should be blamed for this, he said.

Mr. Advani said a State like Kerala ruled by a government led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was implementing the policies that was discriminatory. While minority students were being offered Rs.14,000 each per year, a Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe student was given just Rs.240 per year, he said.

The third alternative highlighted by the Left parties had lasted only a month, he said adding that they had supported the UPA government for keeping the BJP away from power.

He said the yatra that he flagged off on Monday was part of the BJP’s Vijay Sankalp Yatra. It was a resolve for victory, he said.

Mr. Advani said forcible conversion by any religion could not be accepted. A joint meeting in New Delhi between Christian and Hindu leaders three days ago had resolved against forcible conversion, he said. Atrocities against people on the basis of religion could not be accepted.

Dwelling on the political violence in Kerala, Mr. Advani said the BJP had lost many party workers over the past several years. When he was elected to Parliament 40 years ago, the Left parties had claimed that their ideology was the best. Today, the CPI (M) rule was confined to just three States, he said. It was the unfavourable condition prevailing in West Bengal that forced the Tatas to shift its Nano car project to Gujarat, he said.

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