Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that if the National Democratic Alliance forms the government at the Centre, then it will review all “last-hour” decisions taken by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, including the appointment of the former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as Kerala Governor.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Naidu said that the appointment of Ms. Dikshit, close to the date of announcement of poll dates, was nothing but an act of desperation to protect her from the Commonwealth Games scam trials. The Congress, which, according to him, has realised that the people will not return it to be at the helm of affairs again, has been “misusing power”.
Mr. Naidu said that the BJP is growing stronger every day with many regional parties joining the NDA to support its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Though the BJP does not use the word “untouchable”, it is a fact that the Congress is becoming “untouchable and weaker with many parties deserting the UPA”, he said.
Having realised that it cannot counter Mr. Modi, the Congress is “indulging in cheap politics”, he said. “First, it called Mr. Modi a tea vendor and unfit to become prime minister; then it called him impotent. What is required is the capacity to give good governance,” he said. The Congress, Mr. Naidu said, has brought down the levels of political discourse.
Unable to face the growing popularity of the BJP, the Congress is taking shelter under other parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has become the B team of the Congress. When the Congress says it supports the AAP, it better have a formal alliance with the latter, Mr. Naidu suggested. On the other hand, the so-called third alternative is a tried and failed combination. This front has at least seven prime ministerial aspirants who want to run the country, by turns, one day a week, he said.
The BJP veteran said that with growing support for the NDA, the BJP is confident of winning at least half of the 132 seats in the southern States. While it has a strong base in Karnataka and in an undivided Andhra Pradesh, new allies joining the party in Tamil Nadu and social organisations extending support to Mr. Modi in Kerala have brightened the chances of the NDA, Mr. Naidu averred.
There is no infighting in the BJP as reported in a section of the media, as the party believes in democratic principles unlike the Congress, which survives on dynastic principles. The problem is with the BJP’s rivals and not with the BJP, he said.
