Advani hints at UP giving favourable mandate to BJP

New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition L K Advani today hinted that the people of Uttar Pradesh could spring surprises in favour of his party ''as it was the only national party which was relevant in both UP and the Centre.'' In an interview with ETV, Mr Advani, who has been spearheading the election campaign for his party in the state, said the relevance of parties like the Samajwadi Party of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Bahujan Samaj Party of Ms Mayawati was limited to UP.

He said when the race for UP began, people mocked that the BJP was locked in a competition with the Congress for 'bronze' (third) slot.

''I don't feel that the Congress is at all in the race because even the 'bronze' slot has been decided in favour of the ruling SP. It is the remaining two (the BJP and the BSP) who are competing. Now things have changed and I hope UP will respond to the BJP's appeal in the same manner in which Bihar has in the elections,'' Mr Advani said.

The former Deputy Prime Minister said the elections were often full of surprises and the result in the last Lok Sabha polls was an example.

"I did not expect the BJP to lose, but we lost. And the Congress did not expect to win but they won. Therefore, I don't proceed on this basis. Those people who were giving us 50 seats in the BJP, have now revised their opinion and are giving us 110 seats.

Let's wait for the results,'' he claimed.

To a question that the BJP was stoking political opposition by aligning itself with a caste-based regional party, Mr Advani said one should recognise the positive contribution of the caste system. All schools, colleges and hostels in Rajasthan were linked to some caste or the other and they all were open for students of all communities.

About the post-poll scenario in UP, Mr Advani said the BJP was clear about how it should act and it was not necessary to spell it.

''You people will not believe when we say there will be a clear majority. The people in Bihar gave a clear majority and the same thing is going to repeat in UP,'' he claimed.

On probity in public life and the recent incident of spoiling the image of the party, Mr Advani said the BJP had grown into a big entity from being a small party. Large parties like the Congress and Communist Parties were replete with incidents they would not be able to defend in their life time.

In an oblique criticism of Parliament taking cognisance of the arrest of BJP MP Babubhai Katara in the human trafficking case, Mr Advani said he was surprised at the decision when the issue was pending before the court.

''I believe that all such cases should be referred to the Ethics Committee'' he said.

UNI