BJP will come back to power in 2009 Elections: Advani

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) BJP's Prime Minister-in-waiting L K Advani has expressed confidence that his party will be back in power at the Centre after the 2009 General Elections.

''Now that the people have seen six years of NDA rule and that they have also seen the UPA government nearing completion of its five year term, the comparison of these governments and the manner in which what was achieved and what has been lost during this period, the contrast itself is sure to make the country give a new mandate to the NDA government,'' he told CNN-IBN.

Mr Advani also lamented the bitter and acrimonious relationship between the Government and the Opposition.

The former Deputy Prime Minister said he was ''troubled'' that not a single Congress leader turned up for his book release.

Recounting a chance meeting he had with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mr Advani said he had told him that the mainstream parties should not regard each other as enemies, but political opponents and adversaries.

The Leader of the Opposition said he had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that following the Uttar Pradesh verdict the feeling has been brewing in political circles that the two mainstream parties were shrinking and the caste-based parties and regional groups are occupying that space and this is not a happy development.

Mr Advani spoke to CNN-IBN a day after the release of his long-awaited autobiography 'My Country, My Life' last evening.

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