Lucknow: Senior BJP leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday gave a clarion call to the party cadre and leadership to do whatever is needed to bring BJP to power in Uttar Pradesh and three other states, which are going to polls early next year.
"We should keep in mind that the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are important not only at the state level, but also at the national level. It should be our prime objective to bring BJP to power in the state," he said.
"The elections in four states," he said, "was opening doors for newer possibilities of changing the political map of the country and we must take the party towards ascendance (utthan). We have to ensure that our influence is stable and long lasting in the states," he said, adding: "We have to tread our path to Delhi via Lucknow."
Addressing the concluding session of the two-day National Council in his home constituency of Lucknow that ratified the election of BJP President Rajnath Singh, Vajpayee said when the enemies are posing challenges to the BJP, the only mantra with which it could fight back is to work together shoulder to shoulder.
"There is no place for groupism," Vajpayee, who is observing his 83rd birth anniversary on Monday, said.
Vajpayee said the recently-concluded urban bodies elections in Uttar Pradesh have generated hopes of the party performing well in the Assembly elections at a time when media was painting a gloomy picture for the party.
Taking a dig at UP Chief Minister and ruling Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said while he was thankful for the CM
for conferring state 'hospitality' for his visit, he could not forgive the killings and beheading of BJP workers in the state. While he could understand political rivalries among the cadres, he could never fathom how a person could stoop so low as to behead another human being just because he believed in a different ideology that too in an era where human rights are respected.
He appealed to the people of Uttar Pradesh to change with the times and prepare themselves accordingly.
He said in UP, the BJP is not fighting for power or votes, but for values of life, national ideals and the call of responsibilities and for ensuring justice. "We should make the people of the state understand the needs of changing times and bring conducive atmosphere for developing the state."
Recalling his Lucknow links right from his student life when he came to the city for studying law after his post graduation, Vajpayee lapsed into an emotional phase. "My mother breathed her last here and my father's ashes were immersed here in the Gomti river. Looking at the state of the river, here, our blood gets boiling. It is important that we revive Gomti's purity, but also of UP," he remarked.
Vajpayee had a word of praise for Rajnath Singh, saying he was equally well-versed both in organisational work as well as administrational prowess.
The veteran leader said Indian politics should rise above petty issues and function in the interest of the common man. "It is not a question of coming or power or only gaining votes, we have to change our thinking and work for the development," he added.
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