Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 12:28 am:

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So far, the BJP bigwigs have always used deniability to scotch reports of any rivalry between Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his arch rival Ananth Kumar. On Monday, however, while smiling for the cameras, it was out in the open. The barbs flew. And how!

At a strategy meet for upcoming by-elections, party national general secretary Ananth Kumar, party state chief Mr Eshwarappa and RDPR minister, Jagadish Shettar said they should highlight the BJP's growth in the last 15-20 years for the by-elections.

Mr Yeddyurappa who arrived late, was clearly not going to let that pass. "It's the party's growth in the last three years that is remarkable and should be highlighted," said Mr Yeddyurappa, openly contradicting his colleagues in the party. It did not stop there.

Mr Yeddyurappa claimed that on a recent visit to Delhi, "Leaders told me I can even win 20-25 Lok Sabha seats if a mid-term poll is held. Do you know who told me? Congress leaders. If you want more inputs, you can ask Ananth Kumar."

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Posted on Monday, March 28, 2011 - 11:48 pm:

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Senior BJP leader L K Advani has ruled out an apology over the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

"You are talking of regret and apologies. I understand there have been many riots in Hindustan. It is very often that handling of a situation...is lack of governance. The issue of an apology does not arise. But it is sure that riots are a sad issue," Advani said on Monday.

He was speaking at the 'Face the Press' programme where he answered questions from leading journalists including N Ram of The Hindu, Star India CEO Uday Shankar and Kumar Ketkar of the Dainik Bhaskar Group here.

"I do not want to say anything about Atalji. If he had said (it) in some context, it must be correct," he said when asked about former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's advice to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to follow 'raj dharma' in wake of the riots.

"Let me say that what happened in 1984 was not a riot, it was (a) one-sided carnage," Advani said in reply to questions on the Congress apologising for the 1984 riots and added that in case of Gujarat, "Godhra happened first, then there was a reaction".

He said that if anyone in the government had done anything wrong, then the matter would be examined by the court.

Advani said the developments in the 2G case were not merely due to the Opposition or the public opinion, but "the clincher has generally come from the judiciary... particularly the Supreme Court". He also credited constitutional bodies such as the CAG for this and said there was a "sense of disgust" in the country against corruption.

On the demolition of Babri Masjid, Advani said the Hindutva outfits had failed to anticipate the "impatience of the people" and hence it was necessary for the movement to have been planned properly. He added that the demolition was not planned and had taken the leaders "totally by surprise".

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