Advani: UPA has ceased to exist as pre-poll alliance

TRS in Andhra Pradesh,PMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu,RJD and LJP in Bihar and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh have severed ties with the Congress,Advani pointed out.

In contrast,BJP has gained three new allies in the past three months – AGP in Assam,Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh and Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana – and the NDA had entered the fray as a pre-poll alliance.

“For Congress,alliance politics is not a matter of principle and conviction,it is only a matter of expediency and compulsion,while BJP trusts its allies and sincerely adheres to the canons of coalition drama,” Advani said.

An unstable and internally squabbling Third Front would have disastrous consequences for the country,and so would the Congress-led UPA. The UPA’s performance both on economic and security fronts was dismal,he said.

The terrorist menace had become alarming and disheartening due to neglect of internal security by UPA,while inflation,poverty and job losses mounted because of gross mismanagement of the economy,the BJP leader said.

“The UPA which has made the country insecure deserves to be taught a lesson in the coming Lok Sabha polls. At this juncture,India needs a strong,stable and honest government at the Centre to tackle the daunting challenges of economic crisis,price rise,job losses,plight of farmers and terrorism,” he said.

“A strong government,which only NDA can provide,is needed at a time when the country is surrounded by a neighbourhood in turmoil,” he said,citing Monday’s terror attack near Lahore.

He once again asked the Prime Minister to put pressure for disclosure and retrieval of black money stashed in Swiss banks at the G-20 meeting slated to begin tomorrow. “The money could be used for accelerating development in the country,” he said.