After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country’s highest civilian award–Bharat Ratna–would be conferred on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Lal Krishna Advani, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled two separate incidents involving the two leaders of the BJP and said that LK Advani referred to PM Modi as a brilliant event manager in 2014.
“Back in 2002 (at the time of the Godhra incident), the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reminded Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat Chief Minister of ‘Raj Dharma’. He was about to remove him from the post of CM, but at that time, it was Lal Krishna Advani who stood by him,” Ramesh said while addressing the media.
“Fast forward to 2014. On April 5, 2014, when Narendra Modi was going to file his nomination in Gandhinagar, LK Advaniji delivered a statement that is very popular nowadays. It will be written in golden letters in the history of India. What he said is that Narendra Modi is not his disciple; rather, he is a brilliant event manager,” he said.
On being conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the veteran BJP leader said that the Bharat Ratna is not only an honour for him but also for the ideals and principles he strove for in his life to the best of his abilities.
In a statement, LK Advani said he accepts the ‘Bharat Ratna’ with utmost humility.
LK Advani said he has been inspired by the motto ‘idam-na-mama” and expressed his gratitude to BJP workers, RSS swayamsevaks and those with whom he worked in his long journey in public life.
“With utmost humility and gratitude, I accept the ‘Bharat Ratna’ that has been conferred on me today. It is not only an honour for me as a person, but also for the ideals and principles that I strove to serve throughout my life to the best of my ability,” he said in the statement. (ANI)
