Vajpayee elected BJP parliamentary leader
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party unanimously elected Atal Bihari Vajpayee as
its parliamentary party leader on Saturday. His name was proposed by BJP president L K Advani and seconded by leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Sikandar Bakht.
Despite the carnival atmosphere in BJP circles, the leadership
is still on tenterhooks in its task of whipping
up the magical figure of 272 in the 543-seat Lok Sabha.
A BJP member of the Rajya Sabha told Rediff On The NeT that while many potential allies had promised to help form the government, the party leadership
awaited Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu's decision with bated breath.
Political emissaries from Andhra Pradesh have convinced the BJP leadership that it should wait for Naidu's decision, which would benefit the saffron party. It is likely the TDP will give issue-based support to the BJP.
In another development, BJP vice-president Madan Lal Khurana declared
that Vajpayee had been given a free hand by all the
coalition partners to choose his Cabinet if the party and allies came to power.
Khurana denied that any of the coalition partners had imposed any
conditions. "There is total unanimity among all the BJP
allies that Vajpayee should have a free hand in constituting his
ministry," he added.
The former Delhi chief minister refuted all media speculation on the
issue. He insisted that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal or AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha had not laid any preconditions
about the number of berths or portfolios to be given to their MPs in
Vajpayee's Cabinet.
"The people have given us the mandate to form the government" Vajpayee declared today, and asserted that his party did not believe in dividing the society in
the name of religion.
Vajpayee said the BJP gave equal respect to all religions. "All
efforts would be made to remove apprehensions and doubts from
the minds of public."
Referring to his party's performance, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said, "The people
have given us the mandate to form the government and we should
exploit this opportunity."
Advani said that at least 16 per cent of Muslims voted for his
party. The response of the minorities, he added, was encouraging despite the propaganda against the BJP by the "pseudo-secular" parties that it was anti-minorities.
Meanwhile, the BJP, Congress and United Front continued their frantic efforts to enlist the TDP's support for constituting a government at the Centre.
Naidu returned to Hyderabad on Saturday after attending
the UF core group meeting and without disclosing who
his party was going to support.
The Left constituents of the UF, still determined to prevent the
BJP from coming to power at the Centre, continued parleys to find a solution to the nettlesome problem. The Communist Party of India-Marxist Politburo sought to formulate a strategy.
A senior CPI-M leader from West Bengal, requesting anonymity, said
that senior leaders were awaiting Naidu's next
move. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister is scheduled to return to Delhi
before the UF core group meets again on Tuesday, March 10.
The Communist Party of India also met to take stock of the political
situation. Naidu has reportedly told UF leaders that his party will maintain an equal distance from
the BJP and the Congress.
The Congress, realising that the Left parties are determined
to prevent the BJP from coming to power, continued its efforts to forge a Congress-United Front government.
Senior party leader Tariq Anwar said the Congress was in touch with the UF and the possibility of forming a Congress-UF coalition government at the Centre was being explored.
Both the Congress and the UF are reportedly preparing a joint list
of party MPs which they intend to present to President K R Narayanan so
that he would then invite the Congress-UF to form the next government.
Elections '98
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