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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani looked mesmerised by the mammoth turnout at a Bharatiya Janata Party-Bahujan Samaj Party rally in Lucknow on Saturday.
It was the first time when a senior BJP leader was sharing a dais with the BSP chief Mayawati and her political mentor Kanshi Ram.
The rally was convened to denounce Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's recent remarks against Dalit leader Babasaheb Ambedkar.
The rally threw normal life out of gear in the Uttar Pradesh capital. Thousands of BSP activists carrying blue flags had started arriving in Lucknow since Friday night.
Speaking at the rally, Advani made it clear that the five-month old BSP-BJP coalition government in Uttar Pradesh was here to stay. "This is not an opportunistic alliance, but a relationship to provide good governance to the state," he said.
Hinting that coalition politics would remain in vogue for a long time to come, Advani spoke about the need for political tolerance. Citing his party's example, Advani said: "After all so many parties subscribing to different ideologies have got together [at the Centre] to provide good governance to this country."
Disclosing for the first time the events that led to his party joining hands with the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, Advani said: "When I spoke to Kanshi Ram and Mayawati about entering into this partnership, there were several dissenting voices within my party. But I convinced them about the viability of this relationship. I am proud to say that this coalition is doing a great job by serving the people of this state," he said.
"I am sure no political party is capable of drawing such mammoth crowds for a rally devoted to a political cause. This rally clearly displays the anger against a derogatory and objectionable remark against Ambedkar," he said.
The deputy prime minister termed the successful conduct of elections in Jammu and Kashmir as a "victory of democracy."
Flaying Pakistan for moving heaven and earth to frustrate the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir, Advani said all of Islamabad's efforts have failed.
Hailing the people of Kashmir for giving a befitting reply to the militants in Kashmir, he said: "If the success of the electoral process in Kashmir has proved to the rest of the world that democracy is alive and kicking in India, we owe it all to Ambedkar [the architect of the Indian Constitution]."
While Kanshi Ram in his speech traced the evolution of BSP, which took the shape of a political party in 1984, Mayawati trained her guns on the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.
Mulayam's sudden departure for Poland came in handy for both Kanshi Ram and Mayawati. "Realising he has angered the by what he has said about Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mulayam Singh Yadav had decided to flee the country," Kanshi Ram told the crowd amidst thunderous applause.
ALSO SEE: Stampede at Lucknow rail station; 16 killed Heavy security in Lucknow for BSP rally Lucknow decked up for Mayawati's rally
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