Congress Not On The Revival Path: Advani

With a view to debunking some Congress leaders claim that the party has been on a revival course after Sitaram Kesari became Congress President, BJP President LK Advani yesterday said that the Punjab elections results pointed to the contrary.

Instead of revival, the Congress is hurtling down and has fallen in peoples esteem because of accumulated sins of its leaders over a period of time, Advani said.

Advani quoted from the recent survey conducted by an English news magazine and said the survey showed the Congress has been sent to the lowest point ever in countrys political scene. Punjab election only vindicated this, he said.

Contrary to the impression created by some Congress leaders, the partys unenviable fate is not because of the sins of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao alone, Advani asserted. He held that corruption was an important issue in the state.

Advanis statement is significant as for quite some time the BJP has been uncomfortable because of the Congress leaders attempt to project the post-Rao Congress as more creditable than the BJP. After becoming party president about three months before, Kesari has been trying to project the Congress as the only national alternative , a senior BJP leader said. The Punjab election results have given the BJP an opportunity to debunk the Congress, he said.

The Congresss percentage of votes polled in Punjab has come down from about 35 per cent in 1996 Lok Sabha elections to 27 per cent at present, he pointed out. Rao was at least better than Kesari in attracting votes, he added.

The Congress under Kesari has been trying to attain the 1991 position when it was the single largest party, Advani held. All their calculations were based on the assumption that in case of a mid-term poll the Congress would be able to achieve the status of the single largest party. But this has not happened, he said.