The Hindu : Front Page : Congress, Left buying time: Venkaiah Naidu

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Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
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Congress, Left buying time: Venkaiah Naidu

Special Correspondent

“Endless meetings between the two unlikely to bear fruit”

CHENNAI: The former BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said on Wednesday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government should seek a fresh mandate as early as possible as it had been reduced to a ‘lame duck’ dispensation that was unable to take any important decision.

At a press conference here, Mr. Naidu said the Congress and the Left parties were buying time on the pretext of seeking common ground on the India-U.S. nuclear deal and both parties were “afraid” of facing a mid-term election, given their record of dissent over anything and everything, ranging from foreign policy to economic reforms.

“Patch up or pack up”

According to Mr. Naidu, the seemingly endless series of meetings between the two parties was unlikely to bear fruit and the only solution was to go to the people for a fresh mandate. The UPA should “patch up or pack up.”

The BJP leader accused the Congress and the Left of reducing the nuclear deal, which held ramifications for national security, to a “partisan affair” by not involving the Opposition parties in the discussions.

Welcoming President’s rule in Karnataka, Mr. Naidu wanted the Centre to sound out the Election Commission and ready the ground for a mid-term election once Parliament gave the approval. He urged the Union government and the Karnataka Governor to follow the spirit of the Constitution and ensure a level playing field for all.

He warned the Congress that it would be doomed at the hustings if it “indulged in its habit of trying to rule the State through the backdoor” by manipulating a majority.

Stating that the BJP would have no truck with the Janata Dal (Secular), whose betrayal of trust by violating coalition dharma had forced an election on people, Mr. Naidu said the priority now was to galvanise the party for the polls. Strategic alliances, if any, would be decided at a later stage.

Asked if the lessons from the collapse of the power-sharing formula with JD (S) would influence the BJP’s choice of future alliances, Mr. Naidu said “we will keep this experience in mind.”

Sethu project

Asserting that the BJP was not opposed to the Sethusamudram project per se, Mr. Naidu said the only issue pertained to the path of alignment.

He demanded an unconditional apology from those who had hurt the sentiments of people with their remarks on Ram.

The BJP leader urged the southern States to impress upon the Centre to raise the minimum support price for paddy to Rs. 1,000 a quintal as was done for wheat.

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