New Delhi, Dec 25: Making a strong plea for channelising the "Gujarat energy", Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said the real face of secularism has come out in the open after the recent elections in the state. The Gujarat elections would not change the national political scenario but concepts like secularism are now being defined correctly, Vajpayee said.
Vajpayee made these remarks in an interview to a Hindi daily "Dainik Bhaskar" on the occasion of his 78th birthday today. He said secularism had always remained a slogan and its meaning and definition was never really debated.

In an apparent reference to Congress president Sonia Gandhi launching her election campaign in Gujarat after worshipping at the famous Ambaji Temple, Vajpayee said "we remain hardcore secularists for 364 days in a year and we have no objections if on the 365th day an election campaign is launched after praying at a temple." Vajpayee said the "energy" generated after the Gujarat elections should be used in a balanced manner to help protect the values in life.

The prime minister, during the interview, touched upon a range of issues including judiciary and disinvestment.

To a question on some cases of corruption in judiciary coming to light, Vajpayee said the government was contemplating measures to ensure that judiciary discharged its functions properly. Bureau Report