Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said on Tuesday that India needs a leadership that can fearlessly argue with the prime minister based on principles. The veteran politician made the remark at a memorial service organised for Congress leader and former Union minister S Jaipal Reddy, who died in Hyderabad on July 28. Joshi recalled his association with Reddy in the 1990s, when they were members of a Parliamentary panel on intellectual property rights.
“Till the end, on this issue, he used to express his viewpoint at every level, whether he was a member of the forum, member of the Janata Party or member of the Congress party, he never compromised on these issues,” Joshi said. “I feel there is an acute need for such a leadership today that can, based on principles, without fear, express views clearly without worrying whether the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] will be pleased or angry, and argue with him,” the BJP leader added.
Joshi was the BJP president between 1991 and 1993, when he headed the party’s Ekta Yatra. Narendra Modi was then the organiser of the event.