Advani above all

The Organiser editor R. Balashankar welcomes L.K. Advani as the BJP8217;s prime ministerial candidate.

The Organiser editor R. Balashankar welcomes L.K. Advani as the BJP8217;s prime ministerial candidate. 8220;He is a tough-minded optimist. From the fringes he nurtured the BJP to the centre stage and he charioted a great ideological evolution in political campaigns. He offered an alternative approach, canvassed support for a new idea and pioneered a fresh debate that changed the style and substance of Indian political formulations. In this he earned a large fan following among the right intelligentsia. He is both the darling and whipping boy of the media. No other contemporary politician encountered and survived as much controversy as Advani8230; That the BJP has emerged an equal and effective alternative to the Congress is a measure of his accomplishment8230; The year-long speculation about reservations within the parivar on Advani8217;s leadership had to end. The Jinnah episode eroded his authority. It saddened his admirers. But it did not diminish his clout8230; After Vajpayee he enjoys the highest stature in the party. He is its real builder. He has a vision and a mission, which boost him as the leader India awaits.8221;

Ram and history

The Organiser editorial lampoons the government panel on Sethusamudram. 8220;The committee, according to a report in The Sunday Express, has submitted a two-volume report running into 150 pages recommending that there is no evidence to prove the existence of any man-made structure where the Sethusamudram canal project is to be located8230; The report staying clear of Sri Ram and his historicity dutifully submitted what the UPA mandarins wanted it to state: that there was no tangible evidence to prove any man-made structure at the project location and that the bridge or Ram Sethu is like several other geo-morphological features and that the government should go ahead with the Sethu project8230; Why is it that the central government is always too eager only to disprove the Hindu faith? What does it gain by denying India its glorious past? Does it believe that de-Hinduising the majority in the country is the grand idea of nation building?8221;

Besieged Hindu

M .D. Nalapat speaks of the plight of Hindus in Malaysia and links it to their condition in India. 8220;It is obvious that the Sonia-led UPA sees anything 8216;Hindu8217; even Sri Ram, who belongs to all as something to be confronted and wherever possible eliminated. Over the past two years8230; a quiet and informal effort has been launched to identify 8216;RSS sympathisers8217; within the national, state and local governments, and silently seek to ensure the marginalisation of such 8216;undesirable8217; officers8230; To be a practicing Hindu in Sonia-run India is becoming a danger to one8217;s career and in time, perhaps even to health.8221;