New Delhi, April 4:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said that L K Advani has perfectly summed up the BJP’s “true essence” in his blog, in which the veteran leader wrote the party has never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as “anti-national” or “enemies”. Referring to Advani’s blog, PM Modi tweeted that Advani perfectly summed up the true essence of BJP highlighting the mantra written by Advani-‘Nation First, Party Next, Self Last.’ Earlier on Thursday, Advani in a blog wrote,”Serving the Motherland has been my passion and my mission ever since I joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of 14….The guiding principle of my life has been ‘ Nation First, Party Next, Self Last.’ And in all situations, I have tried to adhere to this principle and will continue to do so.” One of the BJP founders and its longest-serving president, Advani in his blog said that his party never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as “anti-national” or “enemies” but only as adversaries. Advani’s views assume significance at a time when the BJP under PM Modi and party president Amit Shah have made the issue of national security a key plank for the general elections and have often accused its political rivals of speaking the language of those seen as hostile towards India. Many BJP leaders have also often used terms like “anti-national” to target opposition leaders. “The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression. Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our ‘enemies’, but only as our adversaries,” the 91-year-old leader wrote in a blog ahead of the BJP’s foundation day on April 6. In a blog written almost five years after he wrote the last piece on its web page, Advani added,”similarly, in our conception of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as ‘anti-national’. The party has been committed to freedom of choice of every citizen at personal as well as political level.”
Advani one of the BJP founders and its longest-serving president was dropped from the list of nominees in the 2019 Lok Sabha election keeping in line with BJP’s decision to not give tickets to leaders over 75 years of age.
