
Citing the examples of Mookerjee and Communist Party of India’s Hiren Mukherjee, who Advani said were the two best parliamentarians in the first Lok Sabha, the senior BJP leader said “today’s leaders perhaps didn’t believe in studying after joining politics”.
Crediting Mookerjee with ensuring the positive changes in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Advani, however, asked the party cadre not to lose heart after the recent defeat. “We have 116 members in Lok Sabha with 58 first timers; 47 members in Rajya Sabha; and state governments in eight states. Our defeat then was not that big. We had, after all, only two members in the Lok Sabha in ‘84,” said Advani.