Advani tells BJP not to get demoralised by election defeat

INDORE - Calling upon party workers not to get demoralised by election defeats, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Friday that the party had successfully braved setbacks in the past.

Addressing the BJP national council meeting here on its last day, Advani said that the party won only two seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha election but it bounced back within five years.

Getting demoralised or losing confidence after an election defeat is not the sign of a good worker, the former deputy minister said.

Advani’s remarks followed the BJP’s defeats in two successive Lok Sabha elections. It was voted out of power in 2004 and it failed to dislodge the Congress in 2009.

Beginning his speech by greeting six BJP chief ministers, two deputy chief ministers and other party leaders, Advani said the BJP was a party with a difference because it was not run on dynastic lines.

We belong to Sangh Parivar (Sangh family) but there is no scope for dynastic politics (in BJP), he said.

Advani said many political parties were promoting dynastic politics on the lines of the Congress.

Speaking about himself, Advani said he attended his first Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) training camp at Indore in 1943 and added that his political journey since then had been inspiring and fulfilling.

Advani, who is chairman of the BJP parliamentary party, said it was he who suggested holding the party conclave at Indore.

He said the purpose of leaders staying in tents at the party conclave was not to cut down on expenditure but to experience camaraderie and commitment.

Some 5,000 delegates have gathered near Indore city for the three-day national executive and national council meetings that end Friday. Almost all the party members are living in a sprawling tented accommodation.