12-16-2006, 07:17 PM
<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> Advani interview: What he really said
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
After the pre-telecast transcript of Leader of Opposition LK Advani's Monday night interview on a TV channel created a storm within the BJP, the party has realised the confusion was caused by the distortions in the script released by the channel to a news agency on Sunday.
"The transcript was nothing but a case of reporting with malicious intent. It was made out to create sensation about the programme before its telecast... Maybe for TRP reasons," BJP president Rajnath Singh said as he emerged from a Parliamentary Party meeting on Tuesday.
According to the pre-telecast excerpts put out by the news channel, CNN-IBN, Advani was quoted as saying that he did not expect former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to propose his name for the top post, for which he indicated he would be a natural claimant.
"While I had given his name for prime ministership in the first place, I don't expect him to return that favour to me," Advani was quoted by the channel to have said.
But the post-interview transcript showed that responding to a question whether Rajnath Singh as party president should be given a chance to become the Prime Minister, Advani had merely said that, "This is a question for the party and people to decide. In fact, when Vajpayeeji became the prime minister, I was the party president. I felt that it would be appropriate if I announce his name as the party's prime minister-in-waiting."
Nowhere in the interview did Advani say or imply that he did not expect Vajpayee to return the favour. The news put out by the agency gave the impression that Advani staked a claim to be the prime ministerial candidate if the party returned to power in 2009.
The question before Advani was: in 2009, in the next Lok Sabha, will LK Advani see himself as Prime Ministerial candidate or not?
The reply was: "According to British tradition, the leader of Opposition is supposed to be the Prime Minister-in-waiting. But whether a person becomes Prime Minister or not depends mainly on people."
Similarly, responding to a question - Is LK Advani a decision-maker in the party or just a consultant - the pre-telecast transcript quoted Advani as saying that "despite being the leader of opposition, he was more of a consultant to the party now."
"Earlier, as the Leader of Opposition, I also took great interest in organisational matters. I have stopped that now. I am more of a consultant now," the release quoted Advani.
However, the post-interview script clearly brought out the distortion. It rightly quoted Advani as saying, "I'm being consulted in most of the important matters. I don't want to be involved in ordinary normal organisational decisions."
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
After the pre-telecast transcript of Leader of Opposition LK Advani's Monday night interview on a TV channel created a storm within the BJP, the party has realised the confusion was caused by the distortions in the script released by the channel to a news agency on Sunday.
"The transcript was nothing but a case of reporting with malicious intent. It was made out to create sensation about the programme before its telecast... Maybe for TRP reasons," BJP president Rajnath Singh said as he emerged from a Parliamentary Party meeting on Tuesday.
According to the pre-telecast excerpts put out by the news channel, CNN-IBN, Advani was quoted as saying that he did not expect former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to propose his name for the top post, for which he indicated he would be a natural claimant.
"While I had given his name for prime ministership in the first place, I don't expect him to return that favour to me," Advani was quoted by the channel to have said.
But the post-interview transcript showed that responding to a question whether Rajnath Singh as party president should be given a chance to become the Prime Minister, Advani had merely said that, "This is a question for the party and people to decide. In fact, when Vajpayeeji became the prime minister, I was the party president. I felt that it would be appropriate if I announce his name as the party's prime minister-in-waiting."
Nowhere in the interview did Advani say or imply that he did not expect Vajpayee to return the favour. The news put out by the agency gave the impression that Advani staked a claim to be the prime ministerial candidate if the party returned to power in 2009.
The question before Advani was: in 2009, in the next Lok Sabha, will LK Advani see himself as Prime Ministerial candidate or not?
The reply was: "According to British tradition, the leader of Opposition is supposed to be the Prime Minister-in-waiting. But whether a person becomes Prime Minister or not depends mainly on people."
Similarly, responding to a question - Is LK Advani a decision-maker in the party or just a consultant - the pre-telecast transcript quoted Advani as saying that "despite being the leader of opposition, he was more of a consultant to the party now."
"Earlier, as the Leader of Opposition, I also took great interest in organisational matters. I have stopped that now. I am more of a consultant now," the release quoted Advani.
However, the post-interview script clearly brought out the distortion. It rightly quoted Advani as saying, "I'm being consulted in most of the important matters. I don't want to be involved in ordinary normal organisational decisions."