NEW DELHI: Ending a 40-day ‘yatra’ that many said was aimed at projecting himself as prime ministerial candidate, BJP star L.K. Advani Saturday called for the ouster of the UPA government.
Showing no visible sign of fatigue at the end of the whirlwind tour, Advani was at his oratorial best as he blamed the Congress-led UPA government for mounting corruption and unchecked rising prices of food items.
Enthused by a large crowd of mainly Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers thronging the Ramlila Maidan, Advani’s favourite target was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The former deputy prime minister said the government “was down in the dumps” and it had failed to check corruption due to lack of political will and not due to lack of laws.
He called for a mass struggle till India wins the war over corruption.
If public awareness and mass pressure fails to end corruption, then the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will have to go, he thundered in Hindi, triggering a huge round of clapping.
Party flags dotted the venue, with the crowds steadily chanting anti-UPA slogans. Also present on the occasion were Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav and AIADMK’s M. Thambidurai.
Advani refrained from speaking about Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
He did refer to yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who had fasted at the same venue, but made no mention about anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, whose fast also at the Ramlila Maidan attracted tens of thousands.
He spoke about opposition unity and declared that NDA MPs will give an undertaking to their presiding officers that they do not have illegal bank account abroad. (IANS)