'Team Anna has created a fallacious notion'

LK Advani turns 84 on November 8 a birthday he will probably celebrate with his supporters during the ongoing Jan Chetna Yatra In a freewheeling interview he explains why corruption has little to do with the absence of a Lokpal unlike what Team Anna believes his love for movies and the mending of the countrys international image But will he be the BJPs next candidate for PM We still dont know How do you manage to stay so fit at your ageLaughs There is no magic mantra I feel if a person is at peace with himself hed be at peace with his body My family has been taking good care of me Im a frugal eater Breakfast is my main meal I eat fruits cornflakes and milk LK Advani addresses a press conference on the eve of his Jan Chetna Yatra in New DelhiDont you feel hungry especially now when you are travelling nonstopNot at all Ive been like this for many years now There is also a theory I believe in when it comes to consuming food that was told to me by a doctor in Escorts Hospital when I had gone there to visit late Nana Deshmukh The doctor had this thesis about food intake When God created man he decided how much food he should consume in his lifetime It depends on the man whether he wants to consume the food destined to him in 50 or in 70 years How then do you get the energy to go through a Jan Chetna YatraI became a member of the RSS at 14 Ive always regarded the RSS the Jan Sangh and the BJP as my ideological parivar family and their love respect and support has sustained me through these years You are on a Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption Do you think Anna Hazare has taken the crusade against corruption to a point of no returnThe first person to campaign against corruption was Jayaprakash Narayan Under his leadership we fought the Emergency which was a battle against corruption and for democracy This crusade against corruption has been a part of my life Anna Hazares name was not known to many before the recent events When he met us we told him that the last Jan Lokpal Bill he framed had many flaws All his colleagues including Shanti Bhushan Kejriwal and Negi came to my residence for a twohour discussion on the bill We insisted that the flaws in the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill have to be changed and they agreed I told them Youve created an impression that theres corruption in the country because theres no Jan Lokpal Bill Is that impression fallacious Yes its fallacious I told them that corruption in our country is not a result of inadequacy of legislation and laws Its inadequacy of political will by those in positions of authority to curb corruption I dont want to comment on Anna Hazare except to say we are with anyone who fights corruption Theres a lot of talk about you aspiring to be the next PM What the country has given me is more than what I can get by becoming the Prime Minister The yatra has nothing to do with LK Advani the BJP or the next elections It is to do with the loss of face weve suffered internationally We had just begun to be be taken seriously in the eyes of the world as a vigorous democracy with the power of becoming an economic power in the 21st century But suddenly India has earned a bad reputation in the world Ive been saying during my Yatra that the people in Delhi these days should not be regarded as representative of the entire India Therefore the issue during the current Yatra is about the countrys reputation Several attacks have been planned on you during the Yatra Do such incidents frighten youThere was a planned attack in Tamil Nadu Some villagers traced the bomb and reported the matter to AIDMK officials who in turn informed the police and we were able to change the route on time But such threats have been part of my life Even during the elections of 1992 three suicide bombers were sent two of who got killed in Coimbatore We have heard that you are very interested in movies Is it trueIve been a filmgoer since my school days both Hindi and Hollywood films Ive even seen Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani in Achut Kanya which goes back to a time when talkies had yet not started For a long time Sanjeev Kumar was my favourite actor But no one can be compared with Amitabh Bachchan You used to be a film criticI was a political writer in the Organiser One day at our editorial meeting we felt the paper was too dry thats when I decided to give film criticism a try Do you get time to watch films nowadaysI watch films on DVD and occasionally in the theatre with my daughter Pratibha if she strongly recommends a film But for several years I was too engrossed in my party work to see films Then when I was visiting my maama maternal uncle in Mumbai I saw a news item in the paper that a viewer had died of shock while watching the horror film House Of Wax I had to see the film No I wasnt frightened The last film I saw in a theatre was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and really liked it I even mentioned this to my parliamentariancolleague Javed Akhtar Hema Malini is part of your party Do you think her beauty adds to the vote bankShe isnt just a beautiful face but is also beautiful in discharging her duties as a party member Any final birthday thoughtsId like to see young people in the country aspire to bring India to the forefront In my school days the only aspiration was the freedom of the country Now the aspiration is to see our country as a global leader If we resolve not to be corrupt and force the government to bring back the huge amount of money that is illegally stashed abroad it is possible to bring prosperity to India How do you manage to stay so fit at your ageLaughs There is no magic mantra I feel if a person is at peace with himself hed be at peace with his body My family has been taking good care of me Im a frugal eater Breakfast is my main meal I eat fruits cornflakes and milk Dont you feel hungry especially now when you are travelling nonstopNot at all Ive been like this for many years now There is also a theory I believe in when it comes to consuming food that was told to me by a doctor in Escorts Hospital when I had gone there to visit late Nana Deshmukh The doctor had this thesis about food intake When God created man he decided how much food he should consume in his lifetime It depends on the man whether he wants to consume the food destined to him in 50 or in 70 years How then do you get the energy to go through a Jan Chetna YatraI became a member of the RSS at 14 Ive always regarded the RSS the Jan Sangh and the BJP as my ideological parivar family and their love respect and support has sustained me through these years You are on a Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption Do you think Anna Hazare has taken the crusade against corruption to a point of no returnThe first person to campaign against corruption was Jayaprakash Narayan Under his leadership we fought the Emergency which was a battle against corruption and for democracy This crusade against corruption has been a part of my life Anna Hazares name was not known to many before the recent events When he met us we told him that the last Jan Lokpal Bill he framed had many flaws All his colleagues including Shanti Bhushan Kejriwal and Negi came to my residence for a twohour discussion on the bill We insisted that the flaws in the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill have to be changed and they agreed I told them Youve created an impression that theres corruption in the country because theres no Jan Lokpal Bill Is that impression fallacious Yes its fallacious I told them that corruption in our country is not a result of inadequacy of legislation and laws Its inadequacy of political will by those in positions of authority to curb corruption I dont want to comment on Anna Hazare except to say we are with anyone who fights corruption Theres a lot of talk about you aspiring to be the next PM What the country has given me is more than what I can get by becoming the Prime Minister The yatra has nothing to do with LK Advani the BJP or the next elections It is to do with the loss of face weve suffered internationally We had just begun to be be taken seriously in the eyes of the world as a vigorous democracy with the power of becoming an economic power in the 21st century But suddenly India has earned a bad reputation in the world Ive been saying during my Yatra that the people in Delhi these days should not be regarded as representative of the entire India Therefore the issue during the current Yatra is about the countrys reputation Several attacks have been planned on you during the Yatra Do such incidents frighten youThere was a planned attack in Tamil Nadu Some villagers traced the bomb and reported the matter to AIDMK officials who in turn informed the police and we were able to change the route on time But such threats have been part of my life Even during the elections of 1992 three suicide bombers were sent two of who got killed in Coimbatore We have heard that you are very interested in movies Is it trueIve been a filmgoer since my school days both Hindi and Hollywood films Ive even seen Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani in Achut Kanya which goes back to a time when talkies had yet not started For a long time Sanjeev Kumar was my favourite actor But no one can be compared with Amitabh Bachchan You used to be a film criticI was a political writer in the Organiser One day at our editorial meeting we felt the paper was too dry thats when I decided to give film criticism a try Do you get time to watch films nowadaysI watch films on DVD and occasionally in the theatre with my daughter Pratibha if she strongly recommends a film But for several years I was too engrossed in my party work to see films Then when I was visiting my maama maternal uncle in Mumbai I saw a news item in the paper that a viewer had died of shock while watching the horror film House Of Wax I had to see the film No I wasnt frightened The last film I saw in a theatre was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and really liked it I even mentioned this to my parliamentariancolleague Javed Akhtar Hema Malini is part of your party Do you think her beauty adds to the vote bankShe isnt just a beautiful face but is also beautiful in discharging her duties as a party member Any final birthday thoughtsId like to see young people in the country aspire to bring India to the forefront In my school days the only aspiration was the freedom of the country Now the aspiration is to see our country as a global leader If we resolve not to be corrupt and force the government to bring back the huge amount of money that is illegally stashed abroad it is possible to bring prosperity to India