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Advani rebuts Jaya's claim on dismissing DMK government

Union Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani today denied All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief J Jayalalitha's charge that he had stated in the wake of the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts that the DMK government in Tamil Nadu would be dismissed if the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition came to power at the Centre.

Addressing a media conference, he said he never stated at any time that if the BJP came to power, it would take action against the DMK government. ''All that I emphasised, so far as this government is concerned, was that we will do whatever is constitutionally correct and politically legitimate. Even personal provocations will not deflect this government from the path of constitutional propriety.''

Replying to a question, he said, ''Whether it is Bihar or Tamil Nadu, this government will do what is constitutionally correct and politically legitimate.''

Asked his assessment of the situation in Bihar, Advani said he was receiving inputs from various parties and other sources apart from home ministry reports. ''The whole government is seized of the issue and will take its own time (in deciding)."

Asked if there was a need for a code of conduct for the coalition partners, he said there was something called ''coalition culture'' and ''we are not used to it as yet. We will become used it. We have been trying to adhere to the concept of coalition culture in which the differences among the allies are sorted out among themselves without airing them publicly.''

Asked about the law and order situation in Andhra Pradesh, he said the situation was normal. He patted the state government saying that it had dealt with the Naxalite problem ''very effectively''.

UNI

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