By IANS,
Amritsar : Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani Monday said the successful rally by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Ludhiana a day ago had shown that it was a formidable force and would form the next government at the centre.
Visibly happy at the outcome of the Ludhiana rally, Advani Monday ended his campaigning for the 2009 general elections with a rally in support of BJP candidate for the Amritsar parliamentary seat, Navjot Singh Sidhu, at Majithia town near here.
“The Ludhiana rally has shown that if there is a solid and formidable alliance, it is the NDA. We will form the next government at the centre,” Advani contended.
Advani praised the leadership of veteran Akali Dal leader and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and said that the BJP-Akali Dal alliance was decades old.
Advani said that the BJP and Akali leaders had struggled hard to get democracy restored in this country after the infamous declaration of an emergency in 1975.
“Badal-ji is perhaps the leader who has spent the longest time in prison while fighting for rights of people of Punjab,” Advani said.
He accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of not doing enough to help the Sikh community in Pakistan which was being targeted by the Taliban through the imposition of a jaziya tax.
“We will not tolerate this victimization of the Sikh community there,” Advani said.