Addressing a press conference here, he said while the Left was the destabiliser at the national level, the DMK had emerged as the destabiliser at the state level after Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s derogatory remarks about Lord Rama.

Terming the UPA-Left combine as an opportunistic coming together of forces with the sole aim of keeping the BJP out of power, he said it was bound to collapse. The Left, which opposed anything American, “cannot resile from its position (against operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal) without losing face”. The Congress, on the other hand, was terming the deal as an achievement though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned Pokhran II test conducted by the previous NDA government.

As for the Ramar Sethu, the issue was not whether the bridge was natural or manmade, but one of faith.  Referring to the Centre’s withdrawal of its own affidavit as well as that of the Archeological Survey of India, questioning the historicity of Ram and the Ramayana, Advani said ministerial responsibility should be fixed as Culture, Law and Shipping Ministries were involved and the person responsible should be “penalised”.
He said Law Minister H R Bharatwaj could not escape responsibility by saying that it was a mistake as hurting religious sentiments of a community was an offence under the IPC.

Advani indicated that the BJP, which has already been put on election mode, would not make Ramar Sethu or Sachar Committee report on reservation for Muslims its main plank in the event of a mid-term poll to the Lok Sabha.

It would, instead, focus on failure of the UPA Government to control prices, which hurt the common man, the agrarian crisis which led to a spate of suicides by farmers, the “miserable failure” of the Government to ensure security in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks and the need for stability at the Centre.

PARTY MEET SANS VAJPAYEE
Bhopal, DHNS: Probably for the first time since it came into being in 1984, the national executive—the BJP’s top decision-making body-will deliberate in the absence of party stalwart  Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Addressing the media on the eve of the BJP’s three-day national executive meet here on Thursday,  party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Mr Vajpayee would not attend the meet on the advice of his doctors.
A scribe questioned, “Does this mean that Vajpayee will not be your prime ministerial candidate?” To this, Mr Naqvi came out with a counter query, asking, “Manmohan Singh is in hospital. Does it mean that he is not the prime minister?”

He added that Ram Sethu would hold a pride of place in the agenda of the national executive, to be attended by 200 delegates. When asked to react to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s remarks about Lord Rama, Naqvi said Mr Karunanidhi had lost his mental balance.

He described as “stage-managed” the internal wrangling within the Congress over the affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, questioning Rama’s historicity. “They have realised their blunder.The sentiments of crores of Hindus have been hurt. Now, they are indulging in this clumsy damage-control,” he said.

He added that the Congress was indulging in a “disinformation campaign” by claiming that the Sethu project was cleared during the NDA regime.

Strategies would be devised for the forthcoming Assembly elections and the “possible” mid-term general elections. Review of the UPA government policies, nuclear deal and terrorism would also be on the agenda.