Govt trapped in anti-BJP mode, distracted: Advani

POWER POLITICS: I see NDA coming back to power and continuing the good work we did, says Advani.

        

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LK Advani: You should view the Karnataka elections as one in a series of elections since Bihar which Congress has been continuously losing. It’s not about one single case where we have won.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Why do you believe that’s happening?

LK Advani: It is because certain factors have come to dominate the national scene in a way as to influence the voter of every single state. While last time in 2004 it was mentioned always that the BJP lost because it was an aggregate of state elections. This time what I am observing is whether it is Bihar or at least the subsequent elections have all been influenced by inflation and price rise. Also they have been influenced by intense unhappiness of the farmer. It was about the Government’s failure to deal with problems of terrorism firmly.

Rajdeep Sardesai: You are saying that national issues are operating at the level of state elections. There would be others who would say that a General Election, as you said in 2004, is an aggregation of state elections. Would you agree that you need a stronger alliance? The UPA is a broader alliance and that is their advantage, if they have any at the moment, over the NDA.

LK Advani: It’s maybe a broader alliance but I would think that the UPA’s failure at the performance level is also because of the broader alliance not being homogenous, and it being more of an alliance prompted only by the negative factor that the BJP has to be kept out.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Isn’t there the fear then that you may repeat the mistake of 2004 by not getting in more allies. Don’t you need more allies like Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and there are other potential allies too.

LK Advani: They will come. I am not against alliance partners. In fact one of the biggest advantages of the NDA was a very homogenous alliance except in the case of one or two where we had a problem.

Rajdeep Sardesai: You believe that Jayalalithaa would naturally gravitate towards the NDA?

LK Advani: I am not talking in any specific terms.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But you are hopeful of more allies?

LK Advani: Yes, yes. I am confident that we will have more allies.

Rajdeep Sardesai: The NDA, a year from now, will be a larger alliance than it is today?