BJP's defeat in Karnataka not a surprise - L K Advani
Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, May 12: In a candid remark on his blog, top BJP leader L K Advani admitted that BJP's defeat in Karnataka was no surprise to him, and that he would have been surprised if the party had won.
"I feel sorry that we have lost in Karnataka. But I am not surprised. The surprise would have been if we had won," he said.
He also pointed out that the results of Karnataka elections are a 'profound lesson' for the BJP as well as for the Congress.
"As it is, I think the Karnataka results have a profound lesson for the BJP. In a way it has a lesson also for the Congress. The common lesson for both of us is : let’s not take the common man for granted. He (the common man) himself may occasionally deviate from the norms of ethical conduct, but he does feel extremely angry when he sees those at the helm of national affairs behaving immorally. This is the principal reason why there is such intense allergy towards politicians generally nowadays," he said.
Commenting on the UPA, he said the indignation that corruption provoked in Bangalore was being reflected in New Delhi too.
"If corruption provokes indignation in Bangalore, why would it not cause the same feeling in New Delhi? Actually, I hold that it is the Karnataka results that have contributed to clinching action being taken even in the matter of Coalgate and Railgate! Before Karnataka results, the Congress Party seemed determined not to do anything about the two scams even if it meant a total washout of the second half of the Budget Session," he said.
He also referred to Yeddyurappa in the blog and said that things would have been 'different' if BJP had taken appropriate action on time.
"There have been press reports that we lost Karnataka because we threw out Yeddyurappa... Let me first point out that BJP did not throw out Yeddi; it is he who broke away from the BJP and decided to form a factional party of his own, the KJP. In fact, when it became apparent that he was unabashedly indulging in corruption, if the party had immediately taken firm action, the course of events would have been quite different.
"But for several months, frantic efforts went on somehow to keep placating him by condoning his peccadilloes (misdeeds). The justification given was that if the party did not adopt such a ‘pragmatic’ approach we would lose the only government that we had in the south," he stated.
Citing examples of previous political situations in other states wherein the BJP had taken a strong stand against its own people, he concluded, "Because of the high expectations we have aroused in the people by our excellent track record in all these years, even minor indiscretions can prove costly for us. And our response to the Karnataka crisis was not at all a minor indiscretion. I have consistently maintained that our handling of Karnataka has been absolutely opportunistic."