Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani on Tuesday said that he was accepted by the people for what he was and he did not need any repackaging.
Mr. Advani was addressing his first public meeting at Curchorem in south Goa after his Jan Chetna Yatra entered Goa.
Later he addressed another public meeting at Mapusa in north Goa. The yatra will leave Goa on Wednesday.
He ridiculed the talk that the yatra was to repackage him.
“Frankly, first of all I fail to understand why Advani needs a repackaging. I am what I am, why do I need repackaging? People accept me as I am, and therefore, I need not repackage myself,” said the veteran BJP leader.
“With all the emphasis at my command, I say that the 40-day yatra, which is strenuous for me, has nothing to do with L.K. Advani, or BJP or the coming parliamentary elections, but certainly to do with the country,” he said, expressing concern that the name of the country was sullied due to corruption scandals coming to light day in and day out for the last two years.
Black money
Referring to the United Nation Security Council's comprehensive convention against corruption which led to passing of legislation in the Swiss Parliament for Restitution of Illicit Assets Act in 2011, Mr. Advani reiterated his demand that the Central government should come out with a White Paper on whatever action it has taken to get back the black money from Swiss banks. He promised to pursue this demand in the coming session of Parliament.
Speaking about the 2G spectrum scam, Mr. Advani said the full facts should be brought to light including the role of Congress Ministers and former ministers and the PMO. “The facts should be brought to light fully, not only the role of the DMK Ministers,” he said.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Advani said that when Mr. Singh became Prime Minister in 2004, people had high hopes for him as he had been an outstanding economist. However, he has not been able to check the food inflation which continues to rise.
Referring to the issue of illegal mining in Goa, he warned that illegal mining would hamper the legal mining activity. He expressed surprise over the unseating of the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in Goa (which had investigated illegal mining).
