PM’s voice back, loud & clear

To mark the occasion, Advani had held a press conference on October 13. So to apparently strike a balance, he sat through the proceedings without speaking, while Vajpayee and other NDA leaders took turns to speak.

The NDA leaders included convenor George Fernandes, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, Chautala, Akali leader Prakash Singh Badal, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, BJD leader Arjun Charan Sethi and Kerala Congress leader P C Thomas.

The 22-odd NDA partners seemed quite comfortable in the saffron ambience with Ramayan verses and loud shouts of Jai Shriram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai providing the prelude to the proceedings.

As Badal walked in and started exchanging pleasantries with BJP leaders, the singers were, by sheer coincidence, singing: Dhiraj, dharam, mitra aru naari, aapat kaal parakhiye chaari. Badal’s arrival charged the Sikhs in the audience who cheered him with shouts of Jo bole so nihal.

Vajpayee, seated in his chair, began his speech with an attack on Pakistan. He said Pakistan was emerging as a ‘‘terrorist state.’’ While it professed fighting terrorism, he said, it kept sending terrorists into India.

‘‘The world,’’ Vajpayee said, ‘‘must differentiate between terror and a terrorist state… They are not prepared to distinguish between the two.’’ The Prime Minister’s harsh language, coming after the recall of troops from the border, was also apparently aimed at the constituents of the Sangh Parivar whose chief public grouse has been that he has ‘‘failed’’ to take any ‘‘effective action’’ against terrorism.

The ‘‘demon’’ (of terrorism) has to be eliminated, the PM said, adding that it might not happen immediately but ‘‘we have the resolve to end it. For that we have to prepare ourselves mentally…We have the capability to defeat terrorism and we will do it,’’ he said.

Vajpayee said the Government had honoured its promise to hold free elections in Jammu and Kashmir. And that the terrorists were hiding their faces in the wake of successful polls. He complimented Abdullah on this count, to only pull his leg thereafter.

He said it was true people in the state ‘‘were not satisfied with some policies. It happens when people in power are not able to take care of all aspects. But that is a separate issue.’’ He pointed out that he had been able to carry so many parties along and asked the Congress with sarcasm: ‘‘Why don’t you join hands in Jammu and Kashmir and UP (with PDP and Samajwadi Party, respectively)?’’

The Prime Minister, referring to the lynching of five Dalits in Jhajjar, said: ‘‘Chautalaji is sitting here. He should excuse me. Do Dalits have no right to live?’’

He said: ‘‘The Gujarat incidents can not be forgotten. We have to remember that they do not happen again.’’ In an apparent reference to the Togadia-Congress controversy, he said there was no place for violence or indecent language in politics. Only a civilised language should be used in public discourse, he said.

Foreseeing that Advani’s silence could spark off controversy, Vajpayee said: ‘‘I was asked to speak. I wanted Advaniji to speak…. I hope there will not be a headline tomorrow. A crow is being made out of a feather (pankh ka kaowa banaya ja raha hai). We (he and Advani) have worked together and will continue to do so. I ask journalists to take care.’’

Recalling the cancellation of his Lucknow press conference, he said, ‘‘I cancelled it because of a throat problem. The next day, I saw reports in newspapers that Vajpayee ran away from Lucknow. Lucknow is my constituency, my turf. I have won and lost there. Why should I run from there?… But, newspapers want headlines. You cannot do big things with a small heart. We (he and Advani) will walk together, speak together and face challenges together.”