Reacting to BJP veteran L.K. Advani's blog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the party's founder member has perfectly summed up the true essence of the Bharatiya Janata Party."Advani ji perfectly sums up the true essence of BJP, most notably the guiding mantra of 'nation first, party next, self last'. Proud to be a BJP karyakarta and proud that greats like L.K. Advani ji have strengthened it," Modi said in a tweet.Earlier, Advani wrote a blog and said the guiding principle of his life has been 'nation first, party next, self last'. "And in all situations, I have tried to adhere to this principle and will continue to do so," he said."The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression. Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our 'enemies', but only as our adversaries," he added.
Advani, one of the founders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party, said that elections were a festival of democracy and "are also an occasion for honest introspection by all the stakeholders in Indian democracy".