M A I N   N E W S

Advani: feel-good factor can lead to complacency

New Delhi, March 6
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today expressed apprehension that the feel-good factor could lead to complacency in the BJP.

“The possibility of complacency setting in as a consequence of over-confidence in the party worries me. Which is why I keep telling my party men to tread cautiously,” he told senior journalist Prabhu Chawla on Aaj Tak.

Asked about his role and political ambition, Mr Advani said, “I pity those who think that I am a member of the wedding party. If Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee is the message, I have no problem in being the messenger and the medium”, according to a press note issued by the news channel.

He said the BJP’s objective was not just to win the elections, but “to play a decisive role along with the NDA”.

Asked whether the BJP wanted to win a majority and dispense with the NDA, the Deputy Prime Minister said he wanted the association of BJP allies to continue in future.

“They have helped us make federalism work better in the country than how it would have worked if we were alone in power as a single party”, Mr Advani said.

Mr Advani hinted at the possibility of the BJP “not being able to win a complete majority by itself”, saying that it was “not possible today for one party to rule the country”.

To questions on film stars and other prominent persons joining his party, he said the BJP was not hankering for them. “We are not taking stars. They are coming to join us”.

He referred to Ms Maneka Gandhi and said she had been a minister in the NDA government even when she was not in the BJP. “Her joining our party has nothing to do with the Gandhi name”.

In another interview to RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya, the Deputy Prime Minister claimed that several contentious issues, including construction of a temple in Ayodhya, could be resolved if the BJP returned to power. — PTI