US has hurt India's pride: Advani

BJP's Bharat Swabhimaan Rally uses national pride issue to gain political mileage

Exploiting the denial of a US visa to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party raked up the issue of national pride in a bid to gain political mileage.

However, the party also was at pains to ensure that this was not just a BJP sponsored function as NDA allies were roped in and the Congress led UPA was congratulated for taking a stand in favour of Narendra Modi over the ongoing impasse over his US visa.

At Sunday's well attended Bharat Swabhimaan Rally, virtually all top leaders of the BHP and NDA were present in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening.

From BJP national president and leader of opposition L K Advani, to NDA convener George Fernandes and from Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur to former Maharashtra CM Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena, several national leaders attended Sunday's rally, that sent out two clear signal - The US cannot adopt double standards and that Narendra Modi has now emerged as the Bharatiya Janata Party's next big leader with a nationwide following.

BJP national president L K Advani compared the denial of US visa to Modi and Gandhi's Dandi yatra, stating that these are classic cases of how relatively unimportant incidents can have national and international repurcussions.

"Modi was associated with Gujarat's pride so far and now he is at the centre of India's pride," Advani said. Advani added that there are several countries where religious freedom does not exist at all, but yet they are treated well by the US.

"I now have an idea why my visa was not provided. Gujarat had signed a deal with a Russian province for coal bed methane mining earlier. Gujarat has the potential to have an inpact on Europe's economy and this was against US interests. Also, the Iran-India pipeline will pass through Gujarat. To make matters worse for the US, it was under a BJP led government that India tested its nuclear bomb," Modi told the crowd at the Kankaria Football ground amid much applause.

Striking an emotional chord with the crowd, the chief minister said, " Narendra Modi is with anybody who is against terrorism, but note this down today. There was one Mohanlal Gandhi who was pushed out from a train by the white men. he went on to push out the white men out of India. this century is India's century. The time is not far off when US will queue up for a visa to India."

Modi however took time to thanks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for taking a stand on the issue, thanked the Parliament for taking a stand and said that this was an issue concerning all Indians and it was Indian pride at stake.

Almost all leaders took part in Pakistan bashing, stating that while the US rolls out the red carpet for the Pakistani head of state, that country supports terrorism in India.

"This incident will trigger an international debate on the US policy. It is evident from the fact that even those who are politically against the BJP are now standing with it on the issue," Arun Jaitley said. The US has embraced theocratic states, and this is a classic case of a democratically elected leader being victimised.

Former Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi called for more stringent action. "I think the US consulate in India must be shut down and this should be done by the government itself," said Joshi, adding that it was an insult to Hindutva that Modi was denied a visa.

He added, " I always wanted such incidents to happen. these will go a long way in bringing the BJP and Shiv Sena to power. MP CM Babulal Gaur gave an indication of things to come when he said, " Narendra Modi is emerging as a major national leader."