George will not hold any portfolio, only his men will
Samata Party leader George Fernandes today said he himself would not be part of a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, but his party would certainly participate in the ministry.
''As a person, I will not be part of the government but my
party members would participate in forming the government. We want to strengthen the BJP at the Centre, and all our efforts would be directed towards this end,'' Fernandes said.
''We will work towards making this government a success and see to it that it lasts for five years,'' he added.
Fernandes stated that he has a much bigger agenda outside of
government.
''First and foremost will be to teach Swadeshi and a whole lot of
issues. Secondly, my concerns about human rights within the country as well as in neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Myanmar, Tibet and so on. Thirdly, problems of the working class and those related to them,'' he added.
The party will also try to address the problems of the farmers
and get lok-shakti which alone can achieve raj-shakti, he added.
On the new government's policy towards foreign investment,
Fernandes said new rules and laws will be framed which will restrict the entry of multinationals.
This, he said, has been accorded top priority in the national
agenda which the parties are presently formulating. ''The BJP and the Samata Party's respective manifestos speak about these, and the national agenda will certainly include these points.''
The national agenda, he said, will be prepared in a day or two
but will be released after a final reading on March 14 when the new government is expected to take over.
However, the Samata Party chief declined to divulge details about the contents of the national agenda, merely stating that
controversial issues like Ayodhya and Article 370 will not be
included.
Fernandes was hopeful that relations with Pakistan would
improve during the term of the new government. ''India had the best of relations with Pakistan when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the foreign minister, and now with him as prime minister there is no doubt that our relations would soar," he added.
UNI
Elections '98
Tell us what you think of this report
|