Senior BJP leader LK Advani (Extreme right) with Ram Vilas Paswan, Najma Heptulla, Smriti Irani and other dignitaries during the 68th Independence Day function at the Red Fort on Friday
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi "also contributed" to the BJP's stellar performance in the national election, but the victory was powered by the Congress, said senior BJP leader LK Advani today.
Mr Advani's remarks will serve for critics as another sample of his begrudging acceptance of Mr Modi as the indisputable fulcrum of the BJP, which won 282 parliamentary seats, the strongest mandate in a national election in 30 years.
"The massive campaign carried out under the leadership of Narendra Modi also contributed to the victory. But the biggest contribution was from our Opposition... Had they not committed so many grave errors and had people not witnessed so much corruption in the last 10 years, then probably this kind of result would not have come," said Mr Advani, 86, who also praised the PM's Independence Day speech at Red Fort which he attended.
In May, when the results of the national election were declared, Mr Advani had cautioned that the role played by his party's prime ministerial candidate and the RSS, the BJP's powerful ideological mentor, needed to be assessed. Then, like now, he had said the Congress' permissiveness of graft and poor governance enabled the BJP's winning result.
Late last year, Mr Advani led a small faction of BJP leaders who initially opposed the party plan to entrust its campaign to Mr Modi, and then to announce him as its prime ministerial candidate. They were over-ruled.
Mr Advani and other senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi have been marginalised in the BJP, with Mr Modi's close and trusted aides like Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah taking key positions in the party and the government.
Mr Advani's comments today come just after Mohan Bhagwat, head of the RSS, appeared to rebuke the Prime Minister by stating that it was not individuals who drove the BJP's win, but "the common man's desire for change."
Mr Advani's remarks will serve for critics as another sample of his begrudging acceptance of Mr Modi as the indisputable fulcrum of the BJP, which won 282 parliamentary seats, the strongest mandate in a national election in 30 years.
"The massive campaign carried out under the leadership of Narendra Modi also contributed to the victory. But the biggest contribution was from our Opposition... Had they not committed so many grave errors and had people not witnessed so much corruption in the last 10 years, then probably this kind of result would not have come," said Mr Advani, 86, who also praised the PM's Independence Day speech at Red Fort which he attended.
In May, when the results of the national election were declared, Mr Advani had cautioned that the role played by his party's prime ministerial candidate and the RSS, the BJP's powerful ideological mentor, needed to be assessed. Then, like now, he had said the Congress' permissiveness of graft and poor governance enabled the BJP's winning result.
Late last year, Mr Advani led a small faction of BJP leaders who initially opposed the party plan to entrust its campaign to Mr Modi, and then to announce him as its prime ministerial candidate. They were over-ruled.
Mr Advani and other senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi have been marginalised in the BJP, with Mr Modi's close and trusted aides like Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah taking key positions in the party and the government.
Mr Advani's comments today come just after Mohan Bhagwat, head of the RSS, appeared to rebuke the Prime Minister by stating that it was not individuals who drove the BJP's win, but "the common man's desire for change."
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