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BJP prime ministerial candidate Atal Behari Vajpayee said here on
Wednesday the Congress series of apologies was now turning into a
mockery of sorts.
"Instead of having a healing effect, these apologies are adding
insult to the injury. It took six, years for the Congress to wake
up to the Ayodhya issue and sacrifice Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao when
the Congress itself was responsible for prolonging the
Ayodhya issue and unnecessarily provoking the Hindus. Similarly,
the apology on Operation Bluestar has come after 14 years. Is
this not a mockery in itself'?" he asked at a meet-the-press
programme at the UP Press Club here on Wednesday.
Mr Vajpayee stepped up his attack on the Congress and said the
Congress manifesto spoke of economic self-reliance. "The fact
that the Congress has realised this after 48 years of its rule,
shows that it has accepted its failiure on the economic front
too," he said. He said the Congress had committed one mistake
after another and now wanted the people of the country to forget
it after a mere apology. "They (the Congress) deserves punishment
and not forgiveness. The people need to change the face of the
government and want the ruling party to he accountable for its
actions," he said.
The BJP leader explained that his party was not disturbed by the
emergence of Mrs Sonia Gandhi as a politician. "The Congress will
gain marginally with her presence in the election campaign but
there will be no visible change in the election scenario," he
predicted.
Replying to a question, Mr Vajpayee said that he apprehended that
foreign forces would try to disrupt the general elections by
disturbing social and communal harmony. He said that the massacre
of the Kashmiri pandits in the Valley was a result of the
Centre's growing complacency over insurgency issues. The BJP
leader said the government needed to step up vigil in sensitive
areas and concentrate on the security of the citizens. "Everytime
something happens, they (the Centre) step up my security. At
times, I feel that I face the biggest security threat in the
country or, perhaps, the nation faces a security threat due to
me. I dislike it when the traffic is held up for me and normal
life is thrown out of gear. All this security paraphernalia
indicates that there is a show of security for leaders but none
for the common people," he said. Mr Vajpayee blamed the Congress
for the displacement of the Kashmiri pandits from the Valley.
"The Congress did nothing to ensure that they were not forced to
leave their homes. Will they end the matter by offering another
apology?" he asked. The BJP leader pointed out that the BJP and
its allies would not be subjected to the "compulsions of a
coalition" because unlike the UF, the BJP was not a configuration
of tiny regional forces. "Things were different with the UF
because the largest party, the Congress, was not part of the
government. With us, the largest party is going to head the
government and our alliances are pre-election alliances based on
political understanding."
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