New Delhi, May 16: Senior BJP leader govindacharya today announced a ''Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan'' - national self-respect movements for launching nationwide protests against the Congress party's decision to name Sonia Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister. Appealing to the Congress allies to stall a person of foreign origin from occupying the highest executive post in the country, Govindacharya told reporters here that eminent citizens would march to President A P J Abdul Kalam on May 18 and give him a memorandum asking him ''to think what he can do about it''. While Govindacharya is the convener of the movement, several eminent citizens and leaders would become members of the RSA. Leaders and people at the state level would also be asked to come under the RSA banner. Stressing that while the constitution permitted Gandhi to become the Prime Minister, the nation would consider it as ''calamity'' coming in the wake of a fractured mandate.
He announced that the day Gandhi is sworn in as the Prime Minister, would be observed by the BJP as a ''Black Day'' for the nation. The decision by the political parties to choose her for the highest executive post came as a '' sudden and unexpected calamity in a fractured mandate,'' he said.
Govindacharya said while he respected Gandhi as a mother and a Congress lady who faced family crisis in a bold manner, the country could not accept her as the Prime Minister since she was of foreign origin. ''It will remain her natural handicap. I do not know how many years it will take her to overcome this''.
He appealed to the congress to choose any other leader for the post of national prestige.
Besides Govindacharya, several other senior BJP leaders have expressed their ''shock'' at the election of Gandhi as leader of the Congress parliamentary party. Central Minister Sushma Swaraj has threatened to resign her Rajya Sabha seat along with her husband Swaraj Kaushal who is a member of the upper house representing the Haryana Vikas Party. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti lambasted the Congress for misleading the nation on the leadership issue. She said the day Gandhi takes over as Prime Minister, it would be the ''darkest day in history of this country.''
''The Congress never projected Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, while the BJP all along said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be the Prime Minister if NDA comes back to power,'' Bharti said.
Bureau Report