Hyderabad, January 11
In a peace message to powerful Naxal groups like the PWG, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today urged the youth to shun the path of violence and murder as guns solve no problem.

Addressing a well-attended ‘development declaration’ rally at the Parade Ground here, the Prime Minister said India was moving rapidly towards progress and development and peace were the most important pre-requisites for development. “We want internal peace”, Mr Vajpayee said pointing out to the peace process with Pakistan.

In his 35-minute-long speech, Mr Vajpayee asked the Telugu Desam Party to join the National Democratic Alliance government after the Lok Sabha elections.

Thanking Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for the outside support extended to his government for the past five years, the Prime Minister said, “I am sure that Mr Naidu would review his earlier stand towards the NDA after the lok Sabha elections”.

Mr Vajpayee showered praise at the developmental programmes of the TDP.

Without going directly on the issue of holding of elections, Mr Vajpayee restricted himself to an attack on the Congress.

Mr Vajpayee urged the political parties to use “decent and civilised” language during the coming elections.

Since India is the biggest democracy of the world, the entire world was looking towards us, the Prime Minister said, adding that “we have to be careful. It is necessary for us to observe mutual respect in democracy.”

The NDA coalition experiment had been successful because they had worked on the principle of consensus and not made any discrimination towards any state, he said.

The Congress was also learning from the experiment of coalition, Mr Vajpayee said. He described the Congress understanding with the DMK as an “unprincipled alliance” as Mrs Sonia Gandhi had held the DMK responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister and her husband Rajiv Gandhi.

The Prime Minister reiterated the BJP’s commitment to reservation for women in the Assemblies and Parliament and blamed opposition parties for the legislation having not been passed.

Listing the achievements of his government, Mr Vajpayee said the NDA had created one crore jobs every year and said that despite his clarification in Parliament, Mrs Gandhi was continuing to say that his government had failed to fulfil the promise.

Earlier, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu attacked the Congress for its negative attitude and said, “Today’s Congress was a duplicate of the original Indian National Congress which had got independence to the country”.

The stage at the rally showed pictorial faces of Mr Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu.