Vajpayee invites Akali
leaders for talks
Tribune
News Service
NEW DELHI, Oct 4 —
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition Government today
earned a breather after Shiromani Akali Dal leaders
promised they would not review support to it ahead of a
meeting with the Prime Minister here on Wednesday.
The Punjab Chief Minister,
Mr Parkash Singh Badal and senior leader, Mr Gurcharan
Singh Tohra, have been invited for talks by the Prime
Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, following the SAD
threat to withdraw support to the coalition at the
Centre, in case it insisted on including Udham Singh
Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal state.
The BJP leaders began a
damage control exercise after the SAD threat was conveyed
in tandem on Friday by Mr Tohra in Delhi and Mr Badal in
Chandigarh.
Mr Tohra had said the SAD
at its working committee meeting on October 6, would
review support to the BJP, while Mr Badal stated the
party was in touch with BJP’s alliance partners
seeking support on the Udham Singh Nagar issue.
That the SAD leaders had
promised to stall decision on October 6, till their
meeting with Mr Vajpayee here the next day was disclosed
by the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Madan
Lal Khurana, at a press conference.
He said Mr Badal had
promised that at the October 6 meeting the SAD would do
nothing that will "close the doors for talks (with
the Centre).’’
In another related
development the U P Chief Minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, said
here the state government was willing to abide by the
Centre’s decision on the Udham Singh Nagar issue.
Mr Kalyan Singh said while
he was not in a position to withdraw or alter the Bill
which favoured inclusion of the district in Uttaranchal,
the Centre could take its own decision. The U P Assembly
had recently passed the Bill which included Udham Singh
Nagar district but excluded Hardwar from the proposed
state.
Mr Khurana, who perceives
himself as an architect of the BJP-SAD alliance, said
during the past two days he had talked to Mr Badal on
five occasions and this morning the Punjab Chief Minister
spoke to the Prime Minister.
"I am confident we
will surmount this problem,’’ Mr Khurana said
while refusing to outline the approach of the BJP-led
coalition specially on the Udham Singh Nagar issue.
Mr Khurana described the
SAD-BJP partnership as a "natural
alliance’’. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister
said he was planning to visit Chandigarh tomorrow to talk
to the SAD leaders, which has now been put on hold.
To a question as to why
the relations between the SAD and BJP go sour when he
claims to be in regular touch with the Akali leaders, Mr
Khurana said: "Probably they have their own
pressures’’.
Earlier, inaugurating the
first All India Muslim Women’s convention, organised
by the BJP Mahila Morcha, Mr Vajpayee said "we have
called Akali leaders to Delhi to discuss the
matter."
The Prime Minister also
stated the Akali leaders had not spoken to the Trinamool
Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee on extending support
on the Udham Singh Nagar issue.
Referring to the reported
statement of Trinamool leader, Mr Vajpayee said she had
denied even having spoken to any Akali leader or having
discussed the inclusion of the Udham Singh Nagar in the
proposed Uttaranchal state.
"When I asked Ms
Mamata whether she had spoken to Akali leaders, she said
No," Mr Vajpayee stated.
He said that there was no
threat to the BJP government at the Centre and added that
some political parties were merely making
"threatening noises."
He said there was a
systematic motivated campaign against the BJP from
quarters that did not want us to form a government and
when we did form the government, did not want us to
govern properly or last long.
Both Mr Badal and Mr
Tohra, had stated that the top Akali leaders were in
touch with BJP’s alliance partners, including the
AIADMK and the Trinamool Congress.
Mr Tohra had said Mr Badal
had already spoken to AIADMK General Secretary, Ms J.
Jayalalitha, and Ms Mamata Banerjee.
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