Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday virtually launched the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election by listing his government's achievements even as he flayed the opposition Congress for entering into opportunistic alliances.
In his first public address after the campaign for the assembly elections in November 2003, the prime minister reminded an estimated 200,000 people about Congress president Sonia Gandhi's remarks some time ago that the BJP and National Democratic Alliance leaders were daydreaming about a seven per cent economic growth rate.
"We not only dream, we also know how to turn them into reality," he told the audience.
Expressing satisfaction over the rapid strides made in the agriculture sector, Vajpayee said that from being a net importer of foodgrains, India has now transformed itself into an exporter.
Referring to the transition of the sun from Dakshinayan to Uttarayan on Makar Sankranti on January 14, he said India too was changing direction and moving towards peace, prosperity and happiness.
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He promised to create one crore (10 million) jobs every year to ensure that the scourge of unemployment came to an end.
Criticising the Congress's failure to ensure development over the 50 years that it had ruled India, he said that his government was constructing roads across India and repairing those that were more potholes than roads.
He then criticised the Congress for allying with certain parties, including those that stand accused of having links with those who assassinated former prime minister, and Gandhi's late husband, Rajiv Gandhi. He was referring to the Congress decision to ally with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham in Tamil Nadu.
In contrast, he said the BJP only had links with parties that believe in nationalism, democracy, and consensus.
The BJP decided to enter into alliances with regional parties after realising it was the best way to ensure proper representation for everyone in this huge and vast country.
But he warned the audience about the risks of having an unstable government.
"My government is a coalition government, but it has lasted four years, something no other coalition has managed so far," he pointedly told the people. India was best run by consensus, and the NDA coalition he led could work smoothly for over four years because of its 'accommodative' and 'just approach' while dealing with the states.
The Congress was now entering into alliances after seeing no chance of winning any election on its own, he said.
Keeping in mind the fact that Hyderabad has a large Muslim population, he reiterated that India needs peace and brotherhood among its people. What happened in Gujarat was wrong. "Whether it is Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, violence is something we will not tolerate," he said.
Incidentally, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was sharing the dais with him. When all the chief ministers on the dais were introduced, the crowd reserved the loudest and longest applause for Modi.
The prime minister spoke in Hindi, which was then translated into Telugu by BJP president Venkaiah Naidu.
