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BJP patriarch L K Advani who was replaced by party president Amit Shah from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency has a message for the party as the 2019 polls are set to begin with the first phase on April 11.
In a blog titled “Nation first, party next, self last”, LK Advani wrote that the party of which he is a founding member never called its political opponents ‘anti-national’ and it has been committed to ‘freedom of choice of every citizen’.
“I deem it to be my duty to share my reflections with the people of India, and more specifically with the millions of workers of my party, both of whom have indebted me with their affection and respect,” Advani said.
The blog is addressed to BJP workers and is written ahead of the party’s Foundation Day on April 6.
The 91-year-old Advani said that this is an important occasion for all of us in the BJP to look back, look ahead and look within.
Reminding the fundamental principle of the democracy, LK Advani said: “The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression. Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our ‘enemies’, but only as our adversaries.”
“Similarly, in our conception of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as “anti-national. The party has been committed to freedom of choice of every citizen at personal as well as political level,” he said.
