The Hindu : It is opportunism: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 10, 2003

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It is opportunism: BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 9. The Congress has "hurt its own interest" by openly declaring that Sonia Gandhi would be its Prime Ministerial candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party said today in its first detailed reaction to the Congress deliberations in Shimla.

The Congress had declared that it wanted coalition partners for the coming Lok Sabha elections, but by projecting Ms. Gandhi as its choice for Prime Minister would "alienate and frighten away" even the few coalition partners it had, the BJP spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, said. From the slogan akela chalo (go it alone) in Pachmarhi to a call for gathbandhan ki (towards coalition) in Shimla, the "Congress has embraced opportunism in its desperation to adopt any and every means to come back to power,'' the party said.

It also seemed to be "copying'' the BJP. "We had a chintan baithak, they followed it with a manthan baithak; we forged a coalition, now they have begun talking about one; we are committed to Hindutva, they have begun adopting a soft Hindutva approach which is directionless,'' Mr. Javadekar said.

The Congress, which always preferred to rule on its own, had now concluded that it could not win the mandate of the people, and therefore it had begun talking of coalition politics in "sheer desperation''.

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