Leader of Indian BJP party visits Navi Mumbai to support candidates for general election

October 12, 2009

Lal Krishna Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), visited Navi Mumbai on Friday to support Sena-BJP leaders Suresh Haware and Vijay Chougule for the country's general elections.

Advani was scheduled to arrive at 17.00 Mumbai time (+5.5 UTC) but only came at 19.30. Before his arrival, Vijay Chougule, a member of the Shiv Sena (Airoli constituency), criticized the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in his speech and promised that Sena-BJP could make a better Navi Mumbai. The BJP supporters were holding flags and banners of the party.

Then, Advani delivered a forty minute speech, in which he said that Suresh Haware was a nuclear scientist before he came into the field of politics, and voting for Sena-BJP could bring change. He also spoke about his dream of having American-style debates for political candidates.

"It is my cherished dream to have a 'bhavya' [beautiful] Ram Mandir at Ayodhya," he said, referring to his goal of building a Ram Temple in the area. When the BJP leader, along with his daughter, visited Somnath last month, he said that he would visit that temple frequently until the Ram Temple is constructed at Ayodhya.

After his departure, Haware, a member of the BJP (Belapur constituency), spoke about water problems and said that Navi Mumbai needs a better water supply. Even a few days before Advani's arrival, Haware spoke of good housing facilities, uninterrupted water supply and measures to control the rising of prices. He also accused the Congress-NCP leaders of making fake promises and misleading the polls.