BJP TODAY

May 1--15, 2003 - Vol. 12, No. 09

Massive National Democratic Alliance Rally in Delhi
Leaders of 18 parties present on the dais
By our special correspondent

Twenty one top leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) attend the huge rally held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, on March 29 on the occasion of the completion of the five years of office of the Government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Apart from Shri Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, others who addressed the rally were Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the NDA convenor George Fernandes, Shri T,R, Balu of the DMK who is the Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Shri Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana (Indian National Lok Dal), Shri Sharad Yadav, Janata Dal (United) and Union Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Shri Prakash Singh Badal, former Chief Minister of Punjab (Shromani Akali Dal) and Kumari Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress).

Others present but who did not speak were Shri Ajit Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture (Rashtriya Lok Dal), Shri Prakash Paranjpe of the Shiv Sena, Shri B,P. Dahal of the Sikkim Democratic Front, Dr. S. Krishnan (M.D.M.K.) Shri E. Ponnuswami (PMK), Shri Sukhdev Paswan (Rashtriya Janata Dal-Democratic), Shri P.C. Thomas (Kerla Congress-Mani), Shri Gulam Hasan Khan (National Conference) and the two General Secretaries of the BJP, Shri Pramod Mahajan and Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Atalji will take oath for the fourth time next year
Pramod Mahajan

Shri Pramod Mahajan made a significant obsecvation in a short speech of the NDA rally. He said that Atalji had now become the only Prime Minister other than Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to have continuously remained in office for more than five years.

However, when (and not if) the NDA won the 14th general elections for the Lok Sabha in 2004, and Atalji once again sworn in as the Prime Minister, he would take the oath of office for the fourth time like Indira Gandhi. The latter had taken oath in 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1980. Atalji had taken oath as the Prime Minister for the first time in 1996, then in 1998 and again in 1999.

When he takes oath for the fourth time next year, Shri Mahajan predicted, he would be the only leader to have been the Prime Minister continuously during the tenure four Lok Sabhas, the 11th, the 12th, the 13th (the present one) and the 14th (in 2004)

Shri Nehru had remained the Prime Minster during the tenure of the first, the second and the third Lok Sabha. He had died on May 27, 1964 as a member of the Third Lok Sabha. Smt. Indira Gandhi had been the Prime Minister during the tenures of the third Lok Sabha (Partly), the fourth Lok Sabha and the fifth Lok Sabha, but had lost elections for the sixth Lok Sabha. She returned to power during the tenure of the seventh Lok Sabha but was assassinated on October 31, 1984, during the tenure of this Lok Sabha.

Shri Mahajan also recalled that the country had as many as six Prime Minister from 1989 to 1998-they were Shri V.P. Singh, Shri Chandrashekhar, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shri H.D. Deva Gowda and Shri I.K. Gujral. Only one Prime Minister, Atalji, he said, was now in office for five years as a stretch.

For Our party workers:

You all are aware of the "great achievements" of the Congress-ruled States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi. We would like to apprise our workers and the people as large about these "achievements" in a few special issues. The first one will be on, yes you have guessed correctly, Madhya Pradesh. Please send us news items, photographs, cartoons etc. relating to the "magnificent" performance of the Congress Government and its Chief Minister, at the latest by the first week of June.

Golden Gift to Atalji by Delhi Pradesh BJP
By our special correspondent

Shri Madan Lal Khurana, President of the Delhi Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party, presented to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee a "golden gift" on the occasion of the completion of five years of his Prime Ministership since March 19, 1998.

The gift was presented at the NDA rally held at the Indoor Stadium in Delhi on March 29 attended by thousands of people sitting inside the stadium and thousands more outside, listening to the leaders and watching them on giant screens arranged by Delhi Pradesh BJP.

The gift is a map of India encased within a gold frame, and within the hollow space stands the silver statue of Shri Atalji, with his head touching the Himalayas, and feet, the ocean at the southern tips of India.

Today, the NDA extends from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari with a National Conference leader from Jammu and Kashmir attending the rally and the representative from Kanayakumari a BJP Member, being a Minister of State in the Vajpayee Council of Ministers.

The BJP is part of the coalition government in Nagaland in the east and has a two-thirds majority in Gujarat in the west won in the December Assembly poll.

NDA Rally: Chautala demands nationalisation of rivers
Requests Atalji for making Pujnab agree to release water for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canel
By our special correspondent

The Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal President Om Prakash Chautala suggested to the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that the country's rivers should be "nationalised".

Addressing the huge NDA rally on March 29, he said that this was essential because most of the States were not in a position now to harness the waters of the rivers flowing through their territories for producing hydro-electricity. Only the centre could perform this task, he averred.

The Haryana Chief Minister who has been a staunch supporter of inter-linking of rivers, said that the Task Force set up for drawing up plans for implementation of the linking project was now headed by a very competent person, Shri Suresh Prabhu.

In this connection, Shri Chautala sought the Prime Minister's co-operation in making Punjab agree to release water for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, which could bring irrigation waters for large tracts of land in south-western Haryana. He said if the Prime Minister, like Bhagirath of yore, could provide water from Punjab to the SYL canal, he would make his State the granary not only in food grains but also in horticulture and dairying.

Paying handsome compliments to Shri Vajpayee for leading the NDA successfully for five years, Shri Chautala said that today there was no alternative to Atalji.

He ridiculed Smt. Sonia Gandhi by revealing that when she had gone to a Harijan house in Haryana for offering condolences to the family after the unfortunate death of one member, she had asked: "in which house did the cow die". The days of Congress rule, he averred, were over and in any case the people of the country would never tolerate a person of foreign origin to rule them. The people would respect only an India-born leader, he stressed.

Shri Chautala appealed to the Prime Minister to extend more assistance to the farmers because the economy of the country was dependent upon performance of the agricultural sector.

He also requested Atalji to extend the old-age person scheme to the entire country with the monthly payment being raised to Rs. 200 per head from Rs. 100 which was now being paid to the old people of his State, also honoring them at the same time, a system introduced by Chaudhary Devi Lal.

In a sincere praise for Atalji, Shri Chautala said that one of the greatest achievement of the five years of NDA rule in the country was the elimination of the evil of defections from one political party to another. It had been proved beyond doubt that defections did not pay in the long run, he said and named Kalyan Singh, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Shankersinh Vaghela, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, in this connection.

Shri Vajpayee, who had given such an effective leadership to the country would remain in power not merely for five years, but for 13 years, Shri Chautala said.

Better ways to disseminate information about NDA government's achievement needed
George Fernandes
By our special correspondent

Defence Minister George Fernandes, who is also the convenor of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has suggested that more efforts were necessary to make known to the people the achievement of the NDA in various spheres of economic and other activities.

Addressing the NDA rally on March 29 in New Delhi, he said that one of the most significant achievements of the NDA rule was actual reduction in overall number of unemployed people in the country for the first time since Independence.

There were three crore educated people on the registers of Employment Exchanges in the country when the NDA look office. The NDA government had been able to reduce this figure. Some people, he observed, did not believe in this achievement.

George said that in the Highway projects, every day, two and a half lakh people were working in different sectors and another 10,000 were employed as supervisors. Similarly, lakhs of people has obtained employment under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

One result of these projects had been the spurt in the production of cement and steel in the country, he said. (Please see box).

The latest figure about the growth rates of the cement and steel industries show that growth rate in cement has gone up from 7.1 percent in April 2001-Feburary 2002 to 9.2 percent during the corresponding months of 2002-2003.

Finished steel showed a growth rate of 7.8 percent between April-February 2002-2003 compared to 2.7 percent during April 2001-February 2002. (Ministry of Commerce, March 21, 2003)

Shri Fernandes described as a "lie" the allegation that the small and medium enterprises (SME) had been hit hard by the present economic policies of the NDA government. The number of SMEs now had risen from 29,44,800 earlier to 35,72,000, providing new employment to 6,28,000 people. This had resulted in increased exports of products from these industries, helping the country accumulate 75 billion dollars in foreign exchange.

"Let all of us take these achievements to the people and make them known to them", Shri Fernandes said.

Paying handsome compliments to Atalji for leading the NDA through many vicissitudes, most of which were not known to the people, Shri Fernandes also mentioned in this connection the skill displayed by the Prime Minister in dealing with the Kargil invasion by Pakistan. Similar political sagacity had been demonstrated in dealing with other matters, the Defence Minister said. He also paid compliments to the Prime Minister for his statements on Iraq (saying war would not solve the problem) and said that the world was now looking towards Atalji for hammering out a solution to the Iraq crisis.

Expressing satisfaction at the unity demonstrated by the NDA partners, the Defence Minister expressed the wish that this unity should endure which would make the Alliance take the country to greater heights in achievements.

Thousands had laid waste their lives for bringing in a non-Congress government
Sharad Yadava
By our special correspondent

Expressing confidence that the next five years of NDA rule in the country would undo all the wrong perpetrated on the people by the Congress Party during the period it was in office, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Yadav said at the NDA rally of March 29 that thousands of people had laid waste their precious lives in their efforts to remove the Congress and bring in a non-Congress government at the centre.

He recalled the sacrifices of Jayaprakash Narayan, Shri Charan Singh, Shri Karpoori Thakur, Shri Lal Krishan Advani, Shri George Fernandes, Shri Prakash Singh Badal and Shri Om Prakash Chautala and his late father Chaudhary Devi Lal among others in this connection.

Shri Yadava attributed the success of the NDA experiment to the policy of adopting the "middle path" by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He also stated how the Union Government had been extending assistance to the States for tackling the drought situation and mentioned in this connection the Rs. 58,000 crore worth of foodgrains for the Food for Work programmes alone. Grains worth Rs. 40,000 crore were being sold at hugely subsidized prices to enable the poor buy food grains at cheep rates.

Shri Yadava averred that there was enough foodgrains available in the country and not a single Indian would be allowed to die of starvation.

Let there be a national debate on NDA's success in developing the country
Irresponsible, immature opposition our misfortune
Venkaiah Naidu
By our special correspondent

Asserting that the five years of NDA rule in the country had been marked by surplus in most items of daily necessities for the common man compared to endless shortages that was the hallmark of the 45 years of Congress rule, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu has thrown a challenge to all opponents to join the Alliance in a national debate on the achievement of the NDA government.

Addressing the huge rally on the occasion of the completion of five years of NDA rule, Shri Naidu expressed regret that the opposition parties were only indulging in negative politics all through. "Their irresponsible and immature behaviour has been our misfortune", he added.

Shri Naidu listed the enormous success of the NDA government in eliminating the "queue regime" which had prevailed during the 45 years of Congress rule and said that there was no shortage today of such items as sugar, cooking gas, telephone connections and the like.

As many as 3.40 crore new telephone connections were provided during the last five years and 3.30 crore LPG gas connections had been provided. As many as 3.20 crore Kisan credit cards too had been issued to farmers, he said.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu said that during the NDA rule, the allocation for the rural sector rose from Rs. 40,000 crores a year to Rs. 60,000 crores. Various programmes like Bhagyashree and Rajrajeshwari, had been implemented. By 2007, all villages would be connected by pucca roads.

Shri Naidu asserted that the security situation in the country had improved greatly under the leadership of Shri Vajpayee.

Referring to the allegations of spurt in terrorist activities in the country during the NDA rule, Shri Naidu asked which party was in power when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at her own residence, and under which Government was the Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh murdered. Who had encouraged the LTTE, Bhindranwale and ULFA, the BJP president asked.

The country had been strengthened by the nuclear explosion in Pokaran undertaken by the Vajpayee government in 1998, he claimed.

Jayalalitha for top priority for peninsular rivers'
inter-linking
Ultimate cost of inter-linking may be less - Prabhu
By our special correspondent

Tamilnadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has proposed to the Union Government to take up the peninsular component of the river inter-linking project first, and also hasten the process of "nationalisation" of rivers.

This she did when Shri Suresh Prabhu, Chairman of the Task Force for drawing up the plan for implementation of the project, called on her at Chennai on April 18 at the Secretariat there.

In a letter she handed over to Shri Prabhu, the Chief Minister said that the Peninsular component should be completed within the tenth plan period itself (2002-2007).

She has pleaded for passing of necessary legislation in order that the southern grid connecting Mahanadi with the Cauvery and then on to the Vaigai and Gundar, is completed first.

One can easily agree with her after witnessing the severe water shortage being felt not only all over Tamilnadu but in Chennai city itself where, in certain localities, taking bath every day has become a luxury few can afford, because they are actually buying water for domestic use with little to spare for taking bath even in this hot summer.

Shri Prabhu later told media persons that a detailed project report (DPR) for the Peninsular link was being prepared and would soon be finalised in order that this link could be taken up first. He also told them that the original estimate of Rs. 40,000 crore to Rs. 50, 000 crore for this link, might be on the higher side.

Twenty-first century will be India's century under Atalji's leadership
Advani
By our special correspondent

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani said at the NDA rally on March 29 in Delhi that India would march towards the objective of making the 21st century India's century under the able leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He also said that the aim of making India a developed nation by 2020 as pledged by both President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Shri Vajpayee, would be achieved under the leadership of Atalji.

The success of the NDA government in so many fields, Shri Advani said, would surely inspire political commentators write a book on how this "miracle" of a stable government for the last five years since March 19, 1998 was achieved. He admitted that when the first coalition government was formed on that date, those coming to congratulate him had also asked if the government would remain stable and complete its term.

The present alliance, he said was more comprehensive than during the Janata Party experiment of 1977, even though a single party was in power then. The experiment had failed because there were actually several parties merged into one and this unity could not last forever. Today, on the other hand, 23 separate parties had come together to form the NDA and had proved to be able to provide a stable government to the country.

During this period, the country had become stronger with the nuclear explosion at Pokaran in May 1998 and myriad development scheme were now under implementation. Of them, the highway project, the progress in telecommunication and Information Technology sectors, Kisan credit cards, were some of these schemes, he said. He disclosed that all the parties in the 1998 coalition were one in making India a nuclear power.

Let Congress save itself first before trying to save the country
Mamata heaps ridicule on Sonia-led party
By our special correspondent

Fiery Bengal leader Mamata Banerjee advised the Sonia-led Congress Party to save itself first before launching the "Desh Bachao" movement. This was an allusion to the "Desh Bachao Andolan" launched by the Congress at a parallel rally held the same day and within harking distance, as it were, of the venue of the NDA rally of March 29

In a broadside against the party led by Sonia Gandhi, Mamata said that the Congress had no credibility among the people. It opposed the CPI-M in West Bengal and but aligned with it in Delhi. "Your house is divided while ours is strongly united", the Trinaimool Congress President told the Congress.

Congratulating Shri Vajpayee on the occasion of the completion of five years in office, Mamata asked "Atalji to remain "Atal" (firm) and said that no party could provide stability to the country except the National Democratic Alliance.

She asserted that the NDA would continue to wage war against terrorism.