Eye on UP polls,BJP celebrates Atals charm on his birthday

With the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states,especially Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in mind,party patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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With the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states,especially Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in mind,party patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayees birthday today became an occasion for the BJP to showcase its capability at good governance and project itself as a party of the masses.

Lauding the role of Vajpayee,who is ailing and turned 87 today,party leaders,including BJP president Nitin Gadkari and senior leader L K Advani affirmed that the former Prime Ministers contribution to the nation and role in shaping politics of the country was immense.

Speaking at a function to honour the former PM,Advani credited Vajpayee for fundamentally changing Indian politics from unipolar to bipolar politics. The credit goes to three people Shyama Prasad Mukherjee,Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the biggest contribution is of Vajpayee as he had the opportunity to be a part of Indian politics for over six decades, Advani said at the function attended by senior BJP leaders as well as those belonging to NDA allies.

Gadkari,on the other hand,said at a party rally here that Vajpayee was a statesman of international stature. The country made progress under his able guidance, he said announcing further that the party would celebrate this day as good governance day. Gadkari added that Vajpayee was the only PM who had said that the post of PM should be under the Lokpal when he was holding the post.

The BJP is hopeful that the Vajpayee charm will continue to work in its favour,especially in UP where it is eying the Brahmin votes. It had recently sought to cash in on Vajpayees popularity by releasing a book of his speeches in Lucknow,from where he was a Lok Sabha member for a long time. Banners,hoardings and posters with his pictures,especially in the backdrop of his birthday,in the state are a reminder that the party is of the view that his name will swing votes in its favour.

Among those who visited Vajpayees residence here to wish him on his birthday was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,besides a host of BJP leaders and chief ministers from party ruled states.