MADURAI: In the wake of demands for clemency to the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi, senior BJP leader L K Advani said court decisions should not be meddled with on political grounds. In Madurai as part of his Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption, Advani told reporters on Thursday that it remained the same whether the case was that of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s killers or Parliament attackers.The mercy plea could be considered if the case related to crimes that are not heinous or if it was committed after some provocation. However, he said, such demands should certainly be not on political grounds.When asked about the possibility of striking an alliance with the AIADMK in the forthcoming Parliamentary election, Advani said, “Anyone who makes a proper assessment of the political situation in India would appreciate that the trend of coalition government will be on at the national level for quite sometime in the coming days.” On the fishermen attack issue, he said Sri Lanka should be told firmly that the attacks should end. While briefing reporters earlier in the day, Advani said the last two years were very depressing with numerous scams surfacing and several Union government officials not only removed from office, but lodged in Tihar jail. “There are observers who had noted that so many ministers belonging to the allies had been punished, but the ruling party itself has very carefully protected itself,” the BJP leader said.There have been demands to probe into the role of some senior leaders of the Congress in the scams, but these demands have not been accepted, he added.When a reporter asked whether he was supporting the DMK by saying that only the ministers belonging to the allies of the ruling coalition were being implicated on corruption charges, Advani said, “I am not supporting anyone who is accused of corruption.”Raising issues that have emotional appeal for locals, the senior BJP leader tried to make inroads into the rural heartland of Tamil Nadu during his yatra. “I would not deny that from organisational point of view, the party is not so strong in Tamil Nadu. Yet I must say that the response in Tamil Nadu has been unprecedented and stupendous. The response was so fantastic, despite the rains I was overwhelmed by the scene in Madurai on Thursday,” Advani said to a responsive crowd in Tenkasi.Asking the Central government to review its nuclear policy, Advani said contractual obligations or commercial interests cannot override concerns of safety and security of the people. Advani addressed at least half a dozen public meetings while passing through rural Tamil Nadu and reached Kerala late Friday evening. Elated to see a huge crowd awaiting him at Tenkasi, he said “I wish I could speak in your beautiful Tamil.” Earlier in the day, Advani and his daughter Pratibha offered prayers at the famous Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai, where the father-daughter duo was given traditional welcome by priests.
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