Sonia should apologise: Advani

Thiruvanthapuram, Apr 13 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Monday asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to apologise for her critical remarks on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in a recent election meeting in Jharkhand.

Addressing a press conference here, Advani said that he was shocked to hear Gandhi's statement that, "we are in greater danger from people inside than from foreign terrorists entering India".

Although Sonia Gandhi did not particularly mention a party's name, Advani said it "substantially accuses us and the comments were clear".

Accusing Gandhi of having meagre knowledge about her own party's history, Advani asserted that there has been a tradition in India of leaders appreciating the role of Jan Sangh in the nation's development.

He claimed that even during 1962 and 1965 wars, then Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri had praised the role of Jan Sangh and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

He said that a rare exception was made in 1963 when Nehru asked the RSS to send a contingent for the Republic Day parade.

"Obviously, she does not know the history of her own party. She makes a statement of this kind. This is slander. She should apologise for this statement or join a debate on fundamentalist issues like Al Qaeda," said Advani.

Expressing regret on the disintegrating war of words before the elections, Advani said that it was clear that the prime fight was between the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led UPA.

"The so-called Third and Fourth Fronts were irrelevant as they were opportunists, who had no platform on their own or a common platform. The CPI(M) was trying to cobble a Third Front only to fight its own growing irrelevance," he said. (ANI)