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Advani urges people to give 'rest' to Congress
The Dy PM said the Cong was incompetent as a ruling party and its role was immature while in the Opposition.
Accusing the Congress of being "incompetent" while in the government and "irresponsible" in Opposition, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani on Wednesday asked the people to give "rest" to the party saying it would provide relief to the country.
"The Congress was incompetent as a ruling party and its behaviour is irresponsible while in the Opposition," he told a rally here just ahead of conclusion of his Bharat Uday Yatra in Puri on Wednesday evening.
He expressed concern at the "plight" of the Congress and said he was no longer angered by its behaviour, but felt pity for it.
Asking the people of Orissa to "rest" the party, he said, "People in other states have done so. It would also provide some relief from the Congress' practises."
Raking up the leadership issue again, Advani said that during 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had projected Sonia Gandhi as its prime-ministerial candidate but it could not afford to do so for the coming elections. He likened the situation to India publishing its list of players along with the captain and Australia saying that it would announce the skipper after the match was over.
He also came down heavily upon the Congress for boycotting the unveiling of Veer Savarkar's portrait in the Central Hall of Parliament last year.
Speaking at Dhenkanal, he hailed Vajpayee government for improving Indo-Pak relations, checking terrorism in Kashmir besides bringing economic stability to the country.
"From being a weak importer, India now exports grains to 35 countries," Advani said, adding that at one time India had to mortgage gold for the foreign exchange but now its Forex reserves have swelled to $110 billion.
On the issue of unemployment, he said, even the United States, the biggest advocate of globalisation, was scared of losing jobs to India as the country provides highly cost effective and efficient services to American companies.
"The outsourcing issue is now reverberating in the US presidential polls and it is a reflection of India's growing stature in the comity of the nations," Advani said.
