Kanpur, June 27: After passionately arguing against the Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP today took another calibrated step ahead, with its prime ministerial candidate L K Advani stating in unequivocal terms that his party, too, wants a nuclear deal.

Claiming that the current one was “discriminatory” since it said that the US would be free to take back fuel and reactors if India conducts tests, he said: “It is a question of our Suraksha (security). It’s a question of our Rashtriya Swabhiman (national self-esteem). And the BJP will never compromise on India’s Suraksha and Swabhiman. Which is why, we have said that the BJP also wants a nuclear deal, but on renegotiated terms.”

Speaking at a rally in Kanpur, Advani asked the UPA convene a special session of Parliament and seek a trust vote, if the Left withdrew outside support to the Government. “If the Left withdraws, we demand that the Government seek a vote of confidence,” he said.

Heralding the election season, Advani extended an olive branch to the Bahujan Samaj Party besides reiterating his commitment to a “magnificent Ram Mandir” at Ayodhya. “May I assure the 18 crore people of Uttar Pradesh that they wouldn’t be discriminated against when we come to power at the Centre,” he said in a message that was clearly aimed at state chief minister Mayawati who withdrew support to the UPA last week complaining of being discriminated against by the Centre.

After the declaration of Advani’s name for the party Lok Sabha candidate from Gandhinagar, his speech in Kanpur marked the formal launch of the BJP’s election campaign. UP, that marked Advani’s debut in national politics in 1953, and then his first term as Bharatiya Jana Sangh president in 1973, clearly impacted the theme and contours of his speech.

With the SP moving firmly towards the Congress, and the BJP attempting to broad-base its basket of allies — both pre-election and post election — Advani’s stand on the BSP only confirmed what was already being discussed in hushed tones. Treating the BSP with a new-found respect, the BJP leader dwelt on UP at length in his written speech.

“The people of UP voted for a BSP government in the Assembly election last year. This government will remain in office for the next four years, and I wish it all the success...What I would like to assure the people of UP is that, if the BJP-led NDA gets a mandate at the Centre, our government would do everything possible to meet the needs of the state.

“When we were in office in New Delhi, we never discriminated against states ruled by non-BJP parties...UP, with a population of nearly 18 crore, is too important to be ignored. It must receive the highest attention from any government at the Centre. India cannot achieve rapid and balanced progress if UP lags behind,” observed Advani in the written speech.

The BJP’s dalliance with the BSP in UP in the 90s had ended in a disaster with the Kanshi Ram-Mayawati duo succeeding in usurping the saffron party’s erstwhile Brahmin-other upper caste constituency.

In a reiteration of the BJP’s basic building block, Ram Mandir sprung back to life in Advani’s speech. “Desh ko tab tak santosh nahin hoga jab tak Ayodhya mein ek bhavya Ram Mandir ka nirman nahin hota hai (The country will not be satisfied unless a magnificent Ram temple comes up at Ayodhya),” he said. The senior BJP leader, however, said it was inextricably linked to the “rashtra mandir” project where hunger, illiteracy, poverty and ill-health are “eradicated for good”. He invoked former A P J Abdul Kalam’s concept of developed villages to fulfil the dream.

Advani also touched upon the party’s pet themes like the UPA government “being in an ICU”, “spiraling inflation and disappearing LPG cylinders”, “rising terror attacks during the UPA regime”, the Congress “on a losing spree”, and “an honest PM but only to be pitied”. He attempted to position the BJP as a vehicle to Bharat’s “param vaibhav”. “Please vote for the BJP not for power alone. Use the BJP to take India to its supreme glory,” he said.