May 9, 2009

Advani revives temple card in West Bengal


Kolkata, May 9: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani here Friday reiterated his party's resolve to build a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya."Jai Sriram' will be fruitful only when we will build a Ram Mandir in Ayadhya," Advani told an election rally here.

He said: "A coalition government has its limitations. If we come to power, we will have to take the coalition into confidence. (But) A day will come when both the Hindus and Muslims will say together that the Ram Mandir must be built."

Slamming the Left parties and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, Advani said: "The 2004 alliance between the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was totally opportunistic. It was based upon simply a negative consideration that the BJP be kept out." "Now the Congress and the CPI-M will have to bear the wages of opportunism."
The CPI-M-led Left parties had provided crucial support to the UPA government for four years since 2004. They withdrew support in July 2008, protesting against the India-US civil nuclear deal. Advani launched a website of his party's candidate Tathagata Roy, who is contesting from Kolkata North constituency.
Advani said there would be neither a Third Front government nor a Fourth Front regime at the centre. "The reality of Indian politics now is the country could only be ruled by either a Congress-led or a BJP-led government. And all the other small parties will join these two leagues," he said.

Advani was, however, silent on the former alliance partner Trinamool Congress, which has now switched its allegiance to the Congress camp. Criticising the central government for "non-performance", he said, "This is the only government since 1952 which has done nothing in its five-year rule. Its record is completely blank."