Advani seeks industry wisdom on growth and equity

New Delhi, June 3 (UNI) Leader of Opposition L K Advani today asked the people to bring to power a clean, efficient and responsive government and said that it was not without reason that the ruling Congress had lost elections in almost all States since the last General Elections.

''We need a good, honest and efficient government. Growth without inclusiveness is meaningless. We need to deploy technology to tackle the problems of poverty and deprivation and improve the quality of the life of the mass of the people,'' Mr Advani said in his address to the 87th AGM of ASSOCHAM.

The BJP stalwart gave the reasons as to why the NDA was opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal and the BJP's opposition to the SEZ policy.

Mr Advani clarified that his party was not opposed to acquiring nuclear fuel from America, but to the Hyde Act which would have restricted India's freedom to carry out Pokhran-III.

He accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of having made several statements, including some in Parliament, which did not match with the 123 Agreement.

Mr Advani's speech was marked with wit and humour and often his light hearted comments went well with the audience.

Outgoing ASSOCHAM President V N Dhoot described Mr Advani as a possible future Prime Minister and a man of vision with immense love for his country.

Going back to history, Mr Advani said the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had opposed India becoming a nuclear weapon state, but several years later, his daughter Indira Gandhi did just the opposite and carried out the Pokhran-I test.

He said in 1998 when the BJP government was in power, it conducted the Pokhran-II test in the face of strict opposition from the world.

It was for this reason it would want the country to retain its independence to conduct nulear tests in the future.

The former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister said a solution could have been found by appointing a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which was not done.

Instead, the government appointed a Committee to which the Left was a party, but all other political parties were kept out.

He said had the government heeded the advice of setting up the JPC, perhaps the deal could have been gone through.

Mr Advani said the election after the emergency had brought to the fore the maturity of the Indian electorate. In State after State, the government, which had imposed the emergency, had lost at the hustings.

He said a famous BBC correspondent had argued with him that the opposition parties had not the slightest chance of winning these elections, even though they would improve on their performance as a result of sympathy they would get for having served in jail on political grounds.

''The results alarmed me. They were beyond belief. In State after State, especially the Northern States, the ruling party lost miserably. In fact in some States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Congress did not get even get a single seat. I salute the maturity of the Indian electorate. For those who do not perform have to bow out of power,'' Mr Advani said.

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