Mumbai: Emphasising that India would continue to be a secular country, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on May 16 said theocracy was alien to the nation's civilisation.

"We are a secular nation. Theocracy is alien to Indian culture and civilisation," Advani said while delivering a lecture after releasing a book titled "Parliamentary Democracy: 1952-2002: An Overview" at Y B Chavan auditorium in Mumbai.

Listing Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) galloping growth in the last decade, Advani said the party resorted to concerted campaign about genuine and pseudo-secularism after Rajiv Gandhi's regime reversed Supreme Court's decision in Shahbano case and allowing 'shilanyas' at Ayodhya.

The two decisions became "turning point in the Indian history and resulted in the growth of a political party", he said adding that secularism does not mean "the state is against any religion".

"Sarva panth samadar (respect for all religion) is our policy and the state shall not discriminate or favour on the grounds of religion," Advani said.

The Deputy Prime Minister reasoned that Democracy succeeded in India for over five decades, despite rampant illiteracy because the Indian society was tolerant towards a diametrically opposite point of view.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government contemplates to make certain Constitutional and legal amendments to bolster the Parliamentary Democracy.

Advani said there are some proposals to make electoral reforms, which instils confidence in him that Democracy would be more strengthened in the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who reviewed the five decades of Indian Democracy in his speech that lasted for over an hour, stated that even though a two party system has not evolved in the country, a bi-polar polity has stabilised, which can certainly stabilise the Democracy.

Advani said a two party system was not feasible in the country, as level of political development among various regions of India varied.

"Since last few years, BJP and Congress has become major political parties, while regional parties are siding with the either of them," he said.

Advani, however, said despite differing ideologies, the political parties should come together on the platform of idealism and it was possible only in a Parliamentary Democracy.

The senior BJP leader appealed to political thinkers and party leaders to apply their mind for restoring the synchronity of Parliamentary and Assembly elections. "Otherwise for the past few decades, almost every alternate year there is a major election or a mini general election," he observed.

PTI