Press Conference addressed by
SHRI L.K. ADVANI
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)
Ahmedabad - December 14, 2007

BJP's certain victory in Gujarat and
Himachal will hasten the end of the UPA govt

The first phase of polling for election the new legislative assembly of Gujarat is over. The turnout of voters has been fairly high. I appeal to the voters in the second phase to make it even higher, because it is the duty of every citizen to vote in an election. I am confident that the people will give a renewed and decisive mandate to the BJP under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi.

I am equally confident that the people of Himachal Pradesh will give a resounding victory to the BJP under the leadership of Prof. Premkumar Dhumal.

Thus, the country's political scene is all set to be radically transformed in the last week of 2007. Thereafter, in 2008, the Congress-led UPA government will in all probability have to count its remaining time in office on the fingers of the hand.

* * *

As the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament has conclusively shown, the UPA government resembles a house of cards. The Left parties supporting it from outside have issued a fresh ultimatum, which is more categorical than ever before. If Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh defies the threat, and if the Left parties indeed carry it out, then midterm elections to the Lok Sabha in early 2008 are certain.

At the same time, in spite of his own earlier brave assertions to the contrary, there is likelihood of the Prime Minister deciding not to go ahead with the deal. This is because the allies of the Congress in the UPA have indicated that they do not want early elections. Dr. Manmohan Singh has already proved himself to be the weakest ever Indian Prime Minister. If he chooses to heed the Left's threat, he will surely invite a serious credibility crisis upon himself. Either way, the path is downhill for his government.

In the context of the Gujarat elections. Dr. Manmohan Singh has already conceded the defeat of his party by his extraordinarily inept and unbecoming comment over my party's decision regarding me on 10 th December. The most charitable way of responding to it is to say that Dr. Manmohan Singh is apolitical.

People are amused by the Congress party's flip-flop over Smt. Sonia Gandhi's equally unbecoming statement during her election campaign in Gujarat, for which she has been served a notice by the Election Commission. One is reminded of a similar flip-flop by the Congress party after her shocking speech in Haryana in October this year, in which she branded all those parties opposing this Indo-US nuclear deal as "enemies of India's development."

For the BJP in Gujarat, Narendra Modi's good governance and performance on the development front, have been its forte. This has won for the party rich encomiums from numerous fora in the past few years. So when we entered the fray, we had intended to focus mainly on these achievements.

I have observed the Congress and its leaders closely for many years. Never have I heard the kind of election speeches that the people of Gujarat have during this election. The speeches are extremely personalised and vicious, lack balance and have lowered the standard of electioneering. I am sure that the low level of the Congress party's poll campaign will be one of the many factors contributing to the BJP's victory in Gujarat.

The Congress campaign reminds me of the Opposition's 'Indira Hatao' approach in the 1967 Lok Sabha polls. Mrs. Gandhi's very effective rejoinder to the Opposition refrain was 'Garibi Hatao'.

Today in Gujarat the Congress Party's cry is 'Modi Hatao', and our response is Gujarat Jitao'.