New Delhi, July 27
The BJP president, Mr K. Janakrishnamurthi, today took strong exception to NDA partners walking in and out of the alliance at their sweet will and asked for formulation of certain norms for entry or re-entry into the ruling combine.

Delivering his presidential address to the three-day BJP national executive meeting which started its deliberations today at Parliament annexe. Mr Janakrishnamurthi, apparently irked at the re-entry of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) into the NDA and the ongoing debate on the return of the Trinamool Congress, said “none of the parties in the NDA can enjoy a right to hurt the NDA and then ask for the benefits of the NDA”.

Pointing out that “two of our allies in the NDA left us” before the recently held Assembly elections “for reasons of their own”, the president said “their leaving did create an impression, however insignificant it may be, that by the desertion of the two, the stability of the NDA came up for discussions”.

“Secondly the NDA as such did not provide any provocation whatsoever for these parties to leave. Thirdly, after achieving the purpose for which they left, they now appear to be desirous of returning to the NDA”, he said.

“Well, the BJP is only a part of the NDA although it provides the major part”, Mr Janakrishnamurthi commented sarcastically adding, “I think it will be in the interests of the NDA both from the short-term and the long-term point of view if certain norms are formulated for entry or re-entry of any party in the NDA”.

Attacking Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for ignoring the host country’s views by holding a dialogue with Hurriyat leaders and disregarding diplomatic niceties by converting an informal chat with editors into a televised press conference during the recent Agra summit, he, however, said the summit was not an end in itself.

In an apparent reference to Islamabad’s media coup, the BJP president asked the government to remember the “lesson of Agra” and take necessary counter steps while observing courtesies and niceties.

“Agra brought out the statesman in Atal Behari Vajpayee while it brought out the soldier in Musharraf. If only Musharraf had realised that he had come to India as President of Pakistan and as such he has come to resolve all outstanding matters between the two countries, things could have taken a different turn in Agra,” Mr Janakrishnamurthi said.

“Even as one cannot succeed in hiding a pumpkin in a grain of cooked rice, so also Pakistan cannot succeed in hiding the fact that it is the source and base of all cross-border terrorism. Parrot-like repetition of Kashmir as the core issue does not impress anyone, much more so the people of India,” he said.

In an another broadside, the BJP president criticised the government for the ceasefire accord with the NSCN (I-M) which had led to violence in Manipur, saying that its clarification on maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur was belated.

“The misunderstanding arose that the extension of ceasefire to other states in the North-East would result in disturbing the territorial integrity of Manipur and a few other states,” he said.

While backing the government’s move away from a regulated economy to a facilitated economy, he said, “It will be prudent to take stock of the effect and impact of liberalisation on the Indian economy during the past decade, identify weak points, if any, apply correctives if needed and then formulate further steps to be taken for the onward journey along the path of liberalisation.”

However, the party chief made no reference to the UTI scam as was widely expected.