NEWS

BSP withdraws call for Jagmohan's head

By rediff Newdesk
July 29, 2003 17:13 IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday withdrew her demand for the expulsion of Tourism and Culture Minister Jagmohan from the Union Cabinet over the Taj Heritage Corridor row.

At a press conference in Lucknow, she said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Kishenchand Advani had assured her that her complaints would be looked into.

She also said the row between her Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Taj project would have no effect on the coalition in UP.

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  • "I also want to assure that when it comes to UP, the BJP and the BSP will fight the next general election together," she said.

    "Our political opponents should not think that our differences in Parliament will strengthen their hands, or their dreams will come true.

    "We will support the NDA at the Centre and remain partners in UP.

    "A coalition is like a big family and there are always some issues that crop up. But our opponents should not try to take advantage of that," she said.

    She said she would go to Delhi to meet the prime minister.

    Meanwhile, Vajpayee convened a meeting of top BJP central and UP leaders on Tuesday night to discuss the issue.

    Advani and BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu will be among those who will attend the meeting, BJP sources said.

    Earlier, BSP members of Parliament had repeatedly stormed the well of the Lok Sabha and demanded Jagmohan's resignation for 'misleading' the entire nation on the Taj issue.

    The din was such that Speaker Manohar Joshi had to adjourn the House for the day.

    But the prime minister flatly rejected the BSP's demand.

    "I have confidence in him," Vajpayee told a BJP parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi, "and there is no question of his resignation."

    He said he received a letter from Mayawati alleging that Jagmohan was in 'collusion with her rivals' to destabilise her.

    rediff Newdesk

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