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Vajpayee silent on Mamata demand

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today refused to comment on Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's demand for the ouster of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha from the ruling coalition at the Centre.

''I have not seen her statement. I will not like to comment on mere media reports,'' he said.

Vajpayee arrived in Raipur last evening on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh.

Talking to the media at Calcutta yesterday, Mamata had demanded a meeting of the coordination committee of the BJP and its allies to oust Jayalalitha from it.

She was reacting to recurring differences between the AIADMK and the BJP in the alliance. ''Matters cannot be allowed to run like this,'' she said and claimed that the withdrawal of the AIADMK would not lead to the fall of the Vajpayee government.

Asked about his statement in the Lok Sabha that he would not contest elections in the future, Vajpayee said his party would decide what he was to do in future. ''I had said that to ensure the ruling party did not do anything merely for the sake of popularity, with an eye on the next elections.''

About the new state of Chattisgarh, he said the Union Cabinet had already approved its formation. ''The Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Bill has been forwarded to the President and as per constitutional provision he would send it for the consideration of the state assembly''.

UNI

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