Harsh Vardhan gets pat on back on Advani's blog

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani Friday claimed in a blog post that he had earlier strongly recommended Harsh Vardhan to his party as chief ministerial candidate for Delhi.

The BJP veteran said Harsh Vardhan, a medical doctor by training, had played a huge role in making the country polio-free.

Advani said he received from Harsh Vardhan a copy of his 2004 book, "A Tale of Two Drops," about efforts to eradicate polio.

On his blog, Advani also referred to Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, saying the business magnate had described India's accomplishment in eradicating polio as "the most impressive global health success I've ever seen".

Advani had also written the foreword for Harsh Vardhan's book.

"The first two paragraphs of the three-page foreword I wrote highlight why I strongly commended to the party that he be named BJP's chief minister candidate," Advani said.

Mentioning another book, "Reimagining India: Unlocking the Potential of Asia's next Super Power" Advani said he had read an article in it by Bill Gates, titled: "What I learned in the war (on polio)".

Advani said Gates mentioned that India's anti-polio plan was funded entirely by the country itself and proved "a ringing statement of commitment and self-confidence".

"I feel happy and proud to find that in making India polio-free, the BJP, and Vardhan personally, have played a vital and distinctive role," Advani said.