Sushma skips party foundation day do

The BJP observed its 30th Foundation Day on Tuesday in the shadow of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh and, predictably, national security dominated the proceedings.

The BJP observed its 30th Foundation Day on Tuesday in the shadow of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh and, predictably, national security dominated the proceedings.

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While party chief Nitin Gadkari and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley spoke on the deteriorating security scenario, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj — who was to be the third speaker — unexpectedly stayed away.

Party veteran L.K. Advani had informed the party he would not come, but recounted the foundation of the party in a blog post: “the launching of the BJP on Easter Sunday was certainly our ‘resurrection’, which changed the political history of the country…”

Jaitley said that though the Maoist menace had grown in UPA days, he would refrain from politics and not say that the buck stops at the home minister’s chair. “We have said that the government to finish them off.” He said the government was soft on terror because of vote bank considerations.

Reminding party workers of Bangladeshi infiltration in Assam, Gadkari said that the security scenario was grim.

“China is intruding in many places; Maoists are creating a red corridor from Pashupati to Tirupati,” he said. “Can integrity of the nation not be each BJP worker’s inspiration?”

Gadkari also touched upon food security and demanded a white paper from the government on rotting grain in inflationary times.