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No alternative to Vajpayee, says Mamata

Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee today asserted that there was no alternative to the A tal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre, and that the allies of the BJP-led ruling coalition should strengthen Vajpayee's hands.

Talking to reporters after an hour-long meeting with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief J Jayalalitha at her Poes Garden residence, Banerjee said Jayalalitha also held the view that the coalition partners should strengthen the Vajpayee government.

Asked whether her party's support to the Vajpayee government would last the entire tenure of the Lok Sabha, she said there was no alternative leader to Vajpayee.

Even when the Congress was in power, Vajpayee was chosen to represent India in international fora, she pointed out. Banerjee said there was some problem within the BJP itself and hoped that it would be sorted out.

On Union Home Minister L K Advani's reported statement that some small allies were blackmailing the government, she said she did not know in what context Advani had made the statement, but added: "Small is beautiful."

UNI

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