Strike will silence Oppn's critics, says Advani

Senior BJP leader L K Advani hoped that the strike called against price rise would put an end to criticism that the opposition was not doing enough on the issue. "Through you (the media) I would like to thank the people of the country for making Bharat Bandh an unprecedented success. I would also like to thank the people of Delhi and our supporters here for this success," he said. 

Advani was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held to mark the birth anniversary of party ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookherjee. The National Democratic Alliance and Left parties had called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday to protest against the fuel price hike. Advani said he had been hearing criticism from some quarters that opposition parties were

not taking up the issue of price rise in a big way. "We had been hearing criticism that the opposition was not living upto the expectations of the people by not taking up the issue of price rise which was responsible for the plight of the people," Advani said.

Earlier during the ceremony to pay tributes to Mookerjee, Advani told his party members to strive towards making BJP "a party with a difference" as envisaged by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "We are in politics not to serve our own agenda but to make this country great," Advani said, in what appeared to be a message to BJP's top brass which is mostly seen competing with each other for one-upmanship. He said BJP workers should be proud as the organisation and its leaders were "incomparable".