ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

RJP, Congress to discuss no-confidence against Keshubhai

Former Gujarat chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Party president Shankarsinh Vaghela held the state government responsible for the death of nearly five thousand people in the recent cyclone, and demanded its immediate resignation.

Briefing the media after releasing a 'black paper' on the alleged misdeeds of the BJP government, now just over hundred days old, Vaghela charged the government was abdicating its own responsibility by attempting to blame the Kandla Port Trust and the weather bureau.

Vaghela said that during his recent tour, he had seen no sign of proper arrangements in the camps in cyclone-hit areas, and demanded that the state assembly advance its next session to June 18 (as against the original schedule of June 29) in view of the urgency of the issue.

He indicated that he would hold discussions with the Congress before bringing a no-confidence motion against the Keshubhai Patel ministry.

As part of his programme against the government, Vaghela also plans a three-day fast before the state secretariat, demanding that allegations made by BJP leaders against his own earlier government be either proven, or withdrawn.

Vaghela is expected to be in New Delhi between June 24 to 26, to meet with anti-BJP leaders such as Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandra Shekhar, to formulate a common strategy against the BJP regime.

Criticising the BJP government for conducting nuclear tests and demanding to know what action was bein taken to halt the rapid devaluation of the rupee, Vaghela said there was no coordination in the BJP governments, either at the Centre or in the state.

The former chief minister said the RJP would use the week beginning July 1 to highlight the shortcomings of the state government. His 'black paper' would also be presented to the President shortly, Vaghela said.

Another part of the RJP's agitational programme involves Narmada, and plans are on to observe August 8 as Narmada Day. Where is the need, he demanded, for the BJP's pet 'Kalpsar' project with a planned investment of Rs 35 billion, when the Sardar Sarovar Project exists for the same purpose?

An RJP state-level convention, meanwhile, is being scheduled for August 20, in Ahmedabad.

Tell us what you think of this report