NEW DELHI: President of the Bhartiya Janata Party Advani foresees the BJP and the Congress I emerging as two principal poles of the Indian polity.

That should make for political balance and national stability the outgoing president who led his party from a paltry two seats in the last Lok Sabha to being the largest opposition group in Parliament with 86 seats in present said in an interview.

The interview is to be published in the BJP souvenir to be brought out on the eve of its three-day plenary in Jaipur beginning on February 1.

Advani who had completed two terms is to step down as BJP president on January 31. The new president-elect Dr Murali Manohar Joshi would take over from him on February 1.

Advani said the present Chandra Shekhar government could not last long. (Congress-I president) Rajiv Gandhi will have to go in for elections before long he said adding both Janata Dals had proved fusion able material with turncoat MPs as atoms.”

Advani said he had suggested as early as 1987 during the Vijayawada session of the party’s national executive for consideration of presidential form of government proportional representation and smaller states for better development.

Specifically he said he had advocated a good second look at the constitution.

Looking back at his tenure as party president since 1986 Advani said BJP’S principled stand on various issues brought much public support to the party

He said BJP was the first party to come out with a formal charge-sheet against the Rajiv regime as early as 1986.

Even when everybody was all praise for Gandhi BJP had pointed out that Rajiv government was only a change of style and not one of substance.

Rajiv’s surrender to communalists on the Shahbano case communalized the whole situation he said adding Rajiv never recovered from that disaster. Advani said the biggest single problem with the former prime minister V P Singh was that he is a loner he is not a team leader. He said BJP’s relationship with Singh had been polite but never warm.

V P Singh never uttered one good word for BJP. Actually to begin with he tried to bypass us and marginalize us. However in mid-1989 he conducted a quiet opinion poll in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar he said.

He said Singh therefore decided to have seat adjustments with BJP though his heart was not in it

But he admitted that the seat adjustment between Janata Dal and BJP created an atmosphere which helped both the parties in the last elections.

Advani said BJP support to the V P Singh government did not work too well because the former prime minister never kept his word.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 1, 1991