Country evolving towards bipolar polity: Advani

In his first comments on the general elections,that saw the BJP-led alliance losing to the Congress-led alliance...

In his first comments on the general elections,that saw the BJP-led alliance losing to the Congress-led alliance,L K Advani has said that the 15th Lok Sabha has seen the consolidation of the countrys evolution into a bipolar polity.

Advani told The Indian Express on Thursday that people are voting towards stabilising the evolution of the country into a bipolar polity,a process that began with the BJP ending the Congresss hegemony. The BJP leader added that the people have given the NDA the responsibility of working as a constructive Opposition in the new Lok Sabha.

Advani,who had to be persuaded to continue as Leader of Opposition,will go to the swearing-in ceremony of Dr Manmohan Singh at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

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After party leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Shahnawaz Hussain advocated a governance-based agenda for the party,other BJP leaders spoke in a similar vein on Friday. Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: Seventy per cent of the Indian voters are under 40 and they look forward to development and progressive politics. The era of Mandal and kamandal (OBC reservations and Hindutva) is over. The era of development,which was started in 1999 and continued till 2004 in the regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,is the main issue today. He added,As the main Opposition party,the BJP needs to take all sections of society together.

Another party vice-president,Yashwant Sinha,raised questions over the partys election strategy. He said the responsibility of those who managed the campaign from the central-level to the states will have to be looked at,a reference that was seen as hinting at party general secretary Arun Jaitley. Asked if he was referring to Jaitley,Sinha said a particular name should not be mentioned. Ultimately,the entire party will have to take responsibility… the people who managed campaigning will take the responsibility. It is not that they will run away, he told NDTV.