Advani is our leader in Lok Sabha for 5 yrs: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sought to put to rest speculation over LK Advani's continuance as Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha as his Deputy Sushma Swaraj made it clear that he has been elected to the post for a full term.

Addressing media persons at a press conference, Swaraj said: "We have elected him for a full term. We did not elect him Leader of Opposition with a deadline."

Answering another question Advani said that if he was not enjoying what he was doing, then he would not have taken up the job.

Talking about the month long Parliament session, which concluded on Friday, Advani said: "The biggest bungle of the UPA government in its first two months was the Indo-Pak joint statement issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Gilani in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt last month. The joint statement contains two of the worst blunders committed in India's diplomatic history."

"First, it delinks or de-brackets the bilateral dialogue process from Pakistani government's action to stop terrorist attacks on India. Secondly, it tacitly holds India guilty of fomenting trouble in Baluchistan," he said.
 
On his talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Advani said, "I had a 45 minute meeting with Hillary on terrorism. I told her that we were not against peace with Pakistan as was being projected by the UPA government."

Additional Reportage: PTI