Use UP as launch pad for power: Gadkari

Bhartiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Friday called upon partymen to use Uttar Pradesh as the launch pad for regaining power at the Centre.

Citing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's much talked about slogan -- "the passage to Delhi runs via Lucknow" -- Gadkari told the inaugural session of the party's two-day national executive, "Our goal is to work hard to win the support of the people of UP in order to return to power in New Delhi."

He added, "We will achieve that without entering into any kind of pre or post-poll alliance with parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party or Ajit Singh's Rashtriya  Lok Dal."

Describing UP as a "fertile ground", he said, "We have been in power in UP on our own; you cannot ignore the fact that Lucknow has been the karmbhoomi of former prime minster Vajpayee. All we need to do is to gear up the party and to strengthen its base in this state where people are tired of both BSP and SP."

Further accusing the Congress of being hand-in-glove with both SP and BSP, he alleged, "The double standards of these parties stood exposed in the manner they extended their support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government on two major occasions recently."

He added, "Even as they put up a facade of being political foes in Lucknow, they were ready to support each other in Delhi."

Hinting at the rampant infighting in the BJP rank and file, he added,"We will have to work in unity for reviving the party in the state."

The BJP president wished to underline the significance of UP state assembly elections which are due barely 11 months from now. 

He made it a point to emphasise that the party's performance in 2012 assembly elections would show the way of how it was likely to fare at the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that would determine the party's destiny at the national level.

"The recent Mahasangram rallies held in various parts of Uttar Pradesh had already set the pace for revival of the party's base in the state," he said,

Hailing the contribution of Vajpayee in taking the party to new heights, Gadkari also admitted that the party would miss him in the upcoming political scenario.

"It's true that there is no replacement for Atalji," observed party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad, while briefing mediapersons later in the afternoon. 

"Before coming here, Gadkariji called on Atalji to seek his blessings,'' he added.

Flaying the UPA government, Gadkari termed Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as a "non-performing prime minister, who himself often made no bones about the fact that he was ignorant about many important things happening right under his nose."

Squarely blaming the increasing unemployment on the UPA government, he said, "While several Indian investors were moving out of the country, the UPA regime failed to attract any foreign investments over the recent past."

"The Foreign Direct Investment during the last financial year had gone down to almost one-third of what it was in 2009-10, which reflects how foreign investors were fast losing interest in India."

Terming the seven-year UPA regime as "highly disappointing", he said "The UPA was responsible for reducing a thriving surplus economy to a deficit one."

"What India needs is a strong government that alone can stamp out corruption and also deal firmly with the unabated terrorism and provide India the-much needed internal security that is in total jeopardy at the moment," he said.