UPA poor example of alliance: Advani

Leader of the Opposition LK Advani on Tuesday took another dig at the Congress-led UPA saying it was a classic example of how ?an alliance should not be.? The senior BJP leader remarked in an era when coalition politics has become a compulsion, the NDA proved to be the ?ideal? alliance.

Advani was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the release of Sankalp ? a collection of write-up by senior BJP leaders and eminent personalities on different issues? brought out by Dr Mookerjee Smruti Nyas in New Delhi. Sankalp carries in-depth analysis by experts on issues like communal reservation, secularism, Article 370, foreign policy, women reservation, police reforms and others.

At a time when apprehensions about a snap poll were rife, Advani found the Congress-headed Government at the Centre performed miserably on ?at least four fronts?.

According to Advani, while the U PA Government?s biggest failure was that it failed to improve the security situation, skyrocketing inflation was the next. ?Minoritism and appeasement policy of the Government, which has dealt a serious blow to social unity, is third. The last is their (UPA) performance as an alliance,? Advani maintained.

As he talked about the contributions of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel in integrating the country after independence, Advani recalled how he (Patel) managed to get 533 princely states merged into India while the only case of Jammu and Kashmir, which was dealt by the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, still remains contentious.

"We had raised the slog an of Do Vidhan , Do Pradhan, Do Nishan nahi chalega (Separate laws, heads and signs will not be accepted) in J&K. While the last two no more exists, the article 370 still ensures J&K gets treated differently from other regions of the country.

Let us hope this too comes to an end," the former Home Minister asserted.

Outlining the need to awaken people to protect democracy and the nation, former BJP president and Rajya Sabha member M Venkaiah Naidu said people should ponder over whether a mass movement similar to the Sampoorna Kranti Andolan of Jai Prakash Narayan was need today.

Naidu cautioned people that loopholes in the system are exploited every now and then for personal gains and emergency imposed by the then Congress government were an example.

"Just for the sake of power Congress has gone ridiculing democratic values. Country is facing numerous challenges because of the government and parties in power. People should take lessons from the past and let the younger generation know what had happened in the past," the senior BJP leader said.

On controversy over the existence of Lord Ram, Naidu said it is interesting to note that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was raising such questions even when the names of his guru and his political rival (MG ramchandran) has the word "Ram".

"He should remember that Congress, which enjoys DMK's support, had a president called Sitaram Kesri. The present UPA government of which he is a part has Ram Vilas Paswan as cabinet minister. Sitaram Yechuri of the CPM, which is supporting the UPA, has not only used Ram but also Sita in his name. What else proof does Karunanidhi require to accept Lord Ram's existence," Naidu asked.