M A I N   N E W S

BJP leaders discuss Uma’s future
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 26
BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley today left for Bhopal to ascertain the views of party MLAs on the question of reappointing Ms Uma Bharti as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Opposition leader L. K. Advani also called an informal meeting of senior BJP leaders at his 30, Prithvi Raj Road residence here this evening to discuss the matter. The meeting was also attended by Ms Uma Bharti. The meeting, which went on for about two hours, was followed by a tea party.

According to sources, Mr Jaitley left for Bhopal to take stock of the political situation there and to understand the views of the party leaders in Madhya Pradesh.

The sources indicated that the party would take the decision regarding Ms Bharti’s reappointment to the Chief Minister’s post as soon as it received Mr Jaitley’s report.

They also said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur had been summoned to Delhi by the party bosses.

In another development, Ms Bharti told a television channel that she did not favour frequent changes and that she backed Mr Babulal Gaur as the state’s Chief Minister for the remaining four- year’s tenure.

Reiterating her personal wish to take ‘sanyas’ from politics for at least two to three years, she said: “I think I should not hold any position or post after I have planned to undertake a non-political yatra focussed on the country’s overall development.”

The BJP, which has been in the eye of a storm following Ms Bharti’s announcement to take “political sanyas” and to proceed on a two years’ “Bharat Yatra,” is said to have initiated the damage-control exercise to resolve all matters related to her reported differences with party President M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Show foreign experts the door: VP

Chennai, September 26
Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh today took exception to the inclusion of foreign experts on Planning Commission committees, saying “guests can be accommodated in the guest room but not in the bedroom.”

Mr V.P. Singh, who called on DMK President M. Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence this evening, told reporters that respecting a guest was all right. But he could not be lodged in the bedroom and there should be some differentiation, he remarked.

Seeking to clarify his stand on the issue of reservation in private sector, Mr V.P. Singh asserted that the private sector should also shoulder social responsibility and provide reservations for the backward and under-privileged classes. “When you are taking over government functions, you should also take the responsibility,” he said.

“At the same time, we should also be internationally competitive for which proper training should be given,” he stressed.

Stating that reservation in private sector could be ensured by law, Mr V.P. Singh urged the government to study the system in the USA where affirmative actions had been taken for Blacks.

On the purpose of his meeting with Mr Karunanidhi, the former Prime Minister observed that he always had good personal relationship with the DMK leader. “Sometimes, friends meet even without any purpose,” he said. — UNI