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No one controls BJP, says Advani, there is no remote control

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's priority is to remove cynicism and scepticism from the minds of Indians, Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union Home Minister L K Advani said on Thursday.

''We can solve many a problem with consensus,'' he told newmen in Ahmedabad.

He was there to visit Gandhinagar, his constituency, for the first time after the election.

Asked whether he was talking of consensus because the BJP lacked majority, he said even with two-thirds majority no party could solve the complex and multifarious problems facing the country.

Replying to questions about the BJP's coalition partners trying to pursue their own agenda, he said no member was expected to do so.

''Our national agenda is non-ideological in nature. But it does not mean I have forgotten my own ideology. I am proud of that. Individual manifestoes are the concerns of our respective alliance partners but, while in government, they should follow the national agenda,'' he said.

''No one controls the BJP," he continued, "Only the PM controls the government. And the government is being controlled by Parliament and the people. There is no remote control."

Advani will hand over the BJP presidentship to his successor at the party's national council meeting in New Delhi, scheduled on May 2 and 3.

The veteran leader, under whose stewardship the 18-year-old party rose from the fringes of political power to staggering heights, said he was ready to hand over the charge to 'any of my colleagues.'

The BJP was founded on April 6, 1980, and has come to acquire an important place in the country's political firmament. On its 18th anniversary, workers will vow to strive to fulfill the promises they made to the people who voted them to power.

Asked about Vajpayee's sudden announcement not to contest the poll again, Advani said, "I believe he will follow the party's decision in this regard. We are not going to let him go like this."

Speaking about the North-East, Advani said a meeting of chief ministers from the seven sisters, to be addressed by Vajpayee this month, would discuss the security issues there.

He said there was no justification in imposing President's rule in Tripura, where a minister and his brother were assassinated on Tuesday.

''In fact, the BJP will be the last party to use Article 356 of the Constitution without having real, substantial reason.''

The Tripura violence has once again brought to fore security dangers that had deepened in border states during the last 15 years or so, the home minister felt.

''Our borders have become more and more insecure due to which some of our neighbourers have been successful in supporting terrorism and violence in these areas,'' he said.

He said the Tripura problem was all the more compounded as the state government was against imposing the National Security Act.

UNI

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