BJP today welcomed the public admission of senior Congress leader A K Antony that his party's secularism is slanted in favour of minorities, calling it "honest soul searching" and said its position on the issue stood vindicated.
BJP veteran LK Advani, who expressed this view while addressing the first-time party MPs on the concluding day of an orientation workshop here, also heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the NDA to a "triple century" victory with over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
He compared Modi to a batsman who became a Captain in the very first Test he played and scored a triple century. Modi is considered not to share the best of ties with Advani.
Advani exhorted the first-time MPs to be re-elected to help bring the BJP back to power in 2019 and gave them tips to shed arrogance of power, remain connected to party leaders and the public and work in the interest of nation building.
The BJP stalwart hoped more Congress leaders would endorse what Antony has said.
"We should welcome this honest soul searching by AK Antony for he is now saying what we in the BJP had been saying all along. We have always said that secularism should mean justice for all, appeasement of none, discrimination against none," he added.
Advani also said BJP's decisive victory in elections had not only changed the political landscape in the country but also influenced the political debate in the opposition camp.
At a recent conference in Kerala, Antony had said that Congress's secularism was slanted in favour of the minority community and that had led to the majority section being alienated from the party.
Advani also hinted that the Congress may not get an official Leader of Opposition place in the Lok Sabha saying, it does not even have adequate MPs to have its Leader recognised as the official Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
