STATEMENT BY DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

L.K.ADVANI AT JANJGIR, APRIL 11, 2004

Today, the Bharat Uday Yatra begins the 30th day of its journey. I spent Saturday travelling from Jashpur to Janjgir and was quite overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for the Yatra in Chhattisgarh. I witnessed am amazing degree of goodwill for the NDA Government led by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. To this was added the mood of confidence in the state government of Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh.

I have little doubt that the enthusiasm in the streets will translate into a decisive mandate for Shri Vajpayee in Chhattisgarh.

Today is Easter Sunday, a very special day for Christians. Coincidentally, it was on this auspicious day that many of us got together in 1980 to establish the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The past 24 years has been a very fulfilling political journey. We began life as a small but motivated opposition party. Within 11 years, the BJP established itself as the principal opposition to the Congress. It took us another five years to emerge as the largest party in the Lok Sabha, a position we have maintained. Finally, in 1998, we entered the government with Shri Vajpayee as Prime Minister. The BJP is today a stable pole in Indian politics.

I believe that at the root of our success is our ability to move with the times. We are a thinking party committed to ideals, not dogma. We are driven by nationalism and an India First philosophy. In 1980, we were hounded out of the Janata Party because some of our erstwhile colleagues regarded us as both a political challenge and an electoral liability. Today, we are at the heart of an enduring, vibrant and representative coalition.

More important, the BJP has become the natural party of governance.

Our commitment to the cause of development and good governance has been elaborated at length in the Vision Document and the NDA manifesto. At my press conference in Jashpur yersterday, I dwelt on our plans for a Second Green Revolution. Today, I wish to highlight another aspect of the NDA’s development agenda—a stable population policy.

Last month, at a press conference in Jagtial (Andhra Pradesh), I had spoken about the need for strictly imposing the two-child norm for families to ensure that the gains of development are not dissipated by a population explosion.

I am happy to note that my suggestion was incorporated in the party’s Vision Document and the NDA manifesto.

Both at a macro and individual level it is necessary to reward those states and families who have played their part in meeting the goals and targets of the National Population Policy. We must allay the fears of states who believe that they are being discriminated against precisely because they have managed to strike the right balance between economic development and population growth.

There is a need for a blend of incentives and disincentives so that all Indian families in future abide by the two-child norm. I repeat my earlier suggestion of debarring those who violate the two-child norm from holding public office.

In the 2003 Budget, tax incentives were given to families for costs incurred for the education of two children. I would like the next Finance Minister to consider extending tax breaks for those who keep to the two-child norm.

Likewise, I believe that the Finance Commission and Planning Commission should make adherence to population targets a criterion for the allotment of development funds. Success in checking population growth must be rewarded.

Such a yardstick has been established for the next round of constituency delimitation. I would like a political consensus on whether or not the principle should be formalised.