Advani on Friday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Nov. 21: Industry leaders came away disappointed from yesterday’s meeting with L.K. Advani after trying to persuade the BJP to work with the Centre to tackle the looming economic crisis.

The BJP leaders at the meeting said they were willing to help the government but claimed the Centre’s dismissive attitude made this almost impossible.

As evidence, they cited how finance minister P. Chidambaram had dubbed Advani “India’s John McCain” on Wednesday. McCain, the defeated US presidential candidate, had made statements during the campaign that showed how clueless he was on the US economy.

BJP sources said that at the three-hour talks, business leaders had made a desperate appeal for the two main parties to unite in this time of crisis. “Yes, all of them asked us to stand by the government. They felt the crisis was too serious to allow any partisan objectives,” a BJP leader said.

Top party leaders, however, replied the Centre’s attitude was the biggest obstacle.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said the BJP had assured the government all co-operation on the floor of Parliament but the other side hadn’t appeared interested.

Sinha rued that the ruling alliance had made no effort to consult the Opposition on the economic threat and had ignored the elaborate suggestions the BJP had made on its own.

He referred to Chidambaram’s comment on the sidelines of a programme on November 19 when reporters told him Advani was meeting industry leaders the next day. “Chidambaram made fun of Advani saying he was India’s John McCain and (adding that) ‘let him do these things before the election’. This is a conceited remark. Advani is not McCain. He is the leader of the Opposition and the future Prime Minister of India.”

The BJP is anyway in no mood to facilitate any government initiative so close to the general election. Advani’s main objective in holding the meeting was not to discuss the economy but to gain inputs on what agenda of governance the NDA should unveil in its poll campaign, sources said.

The industry leaders, however, painted a grim picture of the economy, leaving the BJP leadership “alarmed”. Most of the speakers said the financial system would collapse in six months unless corrective measures were taken quickly. They said millions of jobs would be lost and even PSU banks would perish if fresh equity was not given to them.