Monday, Jun 09, 2003
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By Manas Dasgupta
Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr. Naidu, who was on a day's visit to Gujarat to inaugurate a convention of the party's panchayat cell, criticised the Congress for making such a demand. ``If the Congress is taking the allegations of these unknown people seriously, it should also realise what was happening in its backyard. Murder charges have been levelled against the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, and the Rajasthan Home Minister, Gulab Singh Shaktawat. Why is that party silent on this?'' he asked. Suspecting the ``kar sevaks' statements before the camera as part of a ``conspiracy,'' Mr. Naidu said nothing was known about the background of these people who suddenly made a statement outside the court. ``Who are they? Where do they come from? What evidence they have against Mr. Advani and others? If they have any evidence, why were they silent for 10 years even after the Liberhan commission was set up and why were they making a statement before the media instead of submitting the evidence in the court?'' Describing the Congress demand for Mr. Advani's resignation as ``absurd and meaningless,'' Mr. Naidu said the Congress should have asked Mr. Jogi and Mr. Shekhawat to resign before demanding the BJP leaders' resignation. ``The party should think twice before making such demands,'' he said. He criticised the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's address at Bhubaneswar, describing the BJP Government's claim of progress as ``hollow.'' If the tangible gains the country made during the BJP-led coalition Government at the Centre could be described as hollow, what would that party say about its own failures in the last 47 years of its rule. The BJP was prepared for a debate to weigh the performance of the Congress Governments for 47 years and the BJP's in the last five years. Mr. Naidu feels that the Congress was making such statements, as it was convinced of its defeat in the coming Assembly elections. Though the BJP was not taking anything for granted, the ``indications'' were clear that the party was all set to stage a comeback in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh and ``make a breakthrough'' in Mizoram. He said after the ``Nagaland receptivity,'' the BJP was concentrating in the northeastern States.
`Controversies media-made'
Mr. Naidu reiterated that both the BJP leadership and the mandir-masjid controversies were ``media-made'' and there was no confusion over these in the party. It was only out of the ``mutual respect'' between the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani that the former talked about his deputy ``leading the party in the elections.'' On the expansion of the Narendra Modi Cabinet and appointment of chairmen for the State-owned boards and corporation as being demanded by a section of the party's elected representatives, Mr. Naidu said it was Mr. Modi's prerogative and the party would not like to ``interfere in it.'' On action against the party MP from Anand, Deepak Patel, who is in police custody for his alleged involvement in the Charotar Nagarik Cooperative Bank fraud, Mr. Naidu said he had sought a detailed report from the party on the issue after which he would decide on the actions need to be taken against Mr. Patel.
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