M A I N   N E W S

CM spells out stand on temple
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 28 — The man chosen by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as replacement for Mr Kalyan Singh in Lucknow, Chief Minister, Ram Prakash, today had his first brush with the Capital’s press three months after assuming office.

Contrary to the negative media hype about him, he came out with sharp answers and intelligently skirted contentious issues, though what he said could be interpreted in various ways.

First, the temple issue at Ayodhya. Mr Ram Prakash made no suo motu statement. When asked what he would do if the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal started the construction, he replied as long as peace was not breached and law and order was not violated, his government would do nothing about it.

Some interpreted this to mean that he was endorsing the construction. His statement that the Babri Masjid had been “demolished peacefully” and the then government had done nothing about it left many gasping.

Asked about the recent decision of his government to bring forward a Bill under which permission was needed for construction of places of worship in Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister said the move was prompted by the recent spurt in the activities of Pakistan’s ISI in the state’s districts bordering Nepal.

He said the Bill was being brought to ensure that the ISI did not misuse religious places for its activities.

When pointed out that this Bill could infringe upon the fundamental right to religion, Mr Ram Prakash replied that if that be so, courts could be approached as these were for defending fundamental rights. No such move had been initiated so far, he commented.

Mr Ram Prakash, who was the then Jana Sangh’s nominee in the Janata Party government of UP in 1977 and was brought out of his political hibernation three months back, came out sharply against criticism that he was averse to contesting elections.

Asked why he was not seeking an entry into the Vidhan Sabha through a byelection, he replied in the past he had won three elections from Lucknow. As there was no vacancy from Lucknow at present, he was not offering himself as a candidate for the Vidhan Sabha.

In effect, he hinted, that he would take advantage of the bicameral legislature in Uttar Pradesh and seek election to its Legislative Council.

He ruled out the roll back of power privatisation move and said he would try to ensure that power tariffs were not increased as a result. “The state government has trifurcated the UP State Electricity Board into three corporations with a view to attract private participation in the power sector. This process will continue”, Mr Gupta emphasised.

The UP Chief Minister said the state government was taking steps to ensure that the economic reform process reached the grassroots level. In this regard, he said, the agricultural sector particularly, horticulture, had great potential.