bjp-l-digest Tuesday, July 29 1997 Volume 01 : Number 345
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News, Opinion, Analysis and Publications Digest
Today's Topics
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UF govt is a farce: Vajpayee
BJP gears up for midterm polls
Uma Bharati bares her soul
BJP goes hammer and tongs at Gujral
BJP drops demand of President rule in Bihar
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Date: July 28, 1997
Source: Economic Times
`Secular' line blurring, BJP isolation ending: Vajpayee
Our Political Bureau
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NEW DELHI 27 JULY
THE NATIONAL executive of the BJP today concluded its
deliberations here today with former prime minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee expressing the optimism that the party's
isolation will be over shortly.
In his address to the party's apex decision-making body, Mr
Vajpayee said that the `fake' fault line that was sought to
be created over `secularism' has been blurred and was sure
to disappear. Striking an optimistic note, Mr Vajpayee said
that many outfits - which were earlier keen on keeping
distance from the BJP - have started moving closer to the
party. He also asserted that the party was now close to
scoring a victory over the pseudo-secularists in the
conflict of ideas.
The party managers feel that this assessment would prove to
be correct as there has been disquiet among the people over
the periodic invocation of the secular theme to defend the
indefensible. As a matter of fact, the leading lights of
the ruling United Front regime have been playing the card
to ward off troubles in their terrains.
The remarks of Mr Vajpayee are being interpreted as the
keenness of the party to strike strategic alliances with
the regional parties, which till recently treated the BJP
as a political untouchable. ``The scenario is fraught with
immense possibilities for us'' he said.
Political observers here attach lots of significance to Mr
Vajpayee's observations as they clearly indicate a shift in
the party's emphasis. The party had so far been saying that
the `splendid isolation' would bring it the goodwill of the
people. The anxiety to strike political deals with other
formations, whose ideologies do not match with that of the
BJP, stems from the realisation that this alone can give
the party the extra push needed to win the battle of Delhi.
At the national executive, the party launched a major
offensive against the government for its passivity in
tackling corruption, describing the Gujral regime as a blot
on democracy. ``If the United Front has any residual
political morality and respect for public opinion, it will
not cling to power but call for fresh polls. The Republic
cannot be held hostage in the hands of utterly debased
parties and their equally debased politicians. The UF
government must go,'' a resolution passed at the national
executive said.
The party, which came to the defence of its alliance
government in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, attacked the
Left constituents of the United Front for their
``doublespeak'' on corruption. ``Left has excelled in
Orwellian doublespeak. The Marxists have shown no
compunction in collaborating with the Congress(I) - the
fountainhead of corruption. Marxists have shown a desperate
eagerness to hush up the personal ledger scandal in Bengal,
which has left the CPI(M) leaders and comrades richer by Rs
2,500 crore. Litter wonder they consider themselves the
natural allies of the corrupt parties,'' the BJP said.
The BJP national executive, which defended the Maharshtra
government, praised the state administration ``for prompt
action'' in tackling the recent violence in Mumabi.
Attacking the Congress(I) for demanding the resignation of
the Manohar Joshi government, the BJP said its just like
the proverbial cat which went on a pilgrimage after killing
a hundred rats. ``Those leading the chorus have forgotten
the fact that 130 Gowaris died a brutal death at the
Maharshtra assembly house in Nagpur during Sharad Pawar's
tenure''.
The party, which hoped that the increasing contradictions
and cracks would turn into wide chasms, said the government
cannot go on surviving on ``daily wages''. ``This is a
government so busy with its own survival that it has no
time to look after the interests of the people or the
country. This is a farce of a government,'' the BJP said.
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Date: July 28, 1997
Source: Times of India
BJP gears itself for mid-term polls
NEW DELHI: Anticipating that mid-term Lok Sabha
polls ``can be announced any time,'' the
Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday decided to hold
political training camps for its cadre. These
camps, to be attended by senior party
functionaries, would stress on the need to
maintain strict intra-party discipline aimed
mainly to prevent infighting.
At the conclusion of the two-day national
executive meeting of the party, BJP stalwart Atal
Behari Vajpayee said ``hard work and team work ''
should be the watchword of the party. He was of
the view that the present political situation
provided ``immense opportunity'' to the BJP to
``grab power'' at the Centre.
The party resolved to marshall all the forces at
its command to put an end to the present ``drift
and misgovernance that have together become the
hallmark of the United Front government.''
The political resolution adopted by the executive
said that the UF government was on ``daily wages,
surviving from one day to the next by striking
political deals and bargains. The government is
so busy with its survival that it has no time to
look after the interests of the people or the
country. This is a farce of a government and a
blot on the country's democratic structure.''
While cautioning the cadre of the dangers ahead,
Mr Vajpayee urged them to sustain the ``expansion
drive with discipline.'' He warned them ``not to
become victims'' to the distortions and
temptations that have crept into the present day
politics and society specially in view of the
increasing corruption in public life. He called
for a consensus on all major decisions the party
has to take, right from elections at the mandal
level to that of the highest office.
In his address to the national executive he said
the party had been ``going about sincerely''
holding its internal elections so far. And it has
``strictly adhered'' to the two-term norm for the
post of party president and will ``continue to do
so,'' clearly indicating that party president L K
Advani was not going to continue for another
term.
Mr Vajpayee accused other parties including the
Congress and the leftists of compromising with
corruption to defend ``pseudo-secularism.''
Ridiculing critics of Mr Advani's Swarna Jayanti
Rath Yatra, he said the BJP has taken out five
``yatras'' to go to the people and explain to
them the present socio-economic situation in the
country while other political parties are engaged
in internal squabbles.
The party criticised Prime Minister I.K.Gujral
for allowing Laloo Prasad Yadav to install his
wife Rabri Devi as the chief minister of Bihar
and ``to continue to rule and loot the state by
proxy.''
The political resolution said ``Mr Yadav's
resignation is as much a sham as the installation
of his wife as the chief minister. As the de
facto chief minister of Bihar, he will continue
with his reign of terror and intimidation. If his
regime did not enjoy any credibility, the new
arrangement lacks legitimacy.''
Mr Vajpayee told the executive that the present
rulers at the Centre would go to any extent to
protect corruption and therefore it was time for
the BJP cadres to keep tight watch on discipline
which was the need of the hour. He hoped BJP
state units would continue with their
preparations for the electoral battle for the Lok
Sabha which was not far off.
The economic resolution adopted by the executive
said the party felt ``disturbed at the signs of
deceleration in the economy. Industrial
production is stagnating. A decline in interest
rates has not spurred investments. Banks are
flush with funds but there are no takers.''
The resolution said while the Mumbai Stock
Exchange appears to be booming on the strength of
a very limited number of scrips, ``the primary
market has hit a nadir.'' In July there were only
three public issues collectively raising a meagre
Rs 3 crore, it pointed out.
The party also criticised Mr Gujral's statement
relating to holding of ``unconditional'' talks
with ``misguided elements'' in Kashmir and the
Nagaland. It said the Prime Minister's statement
was a further climb-down from the weak-kneed
attitude of the Narasimha Rao government which
spoke of Kashmir ``short of azadi (freedom),''
and that of the United Front whose common minimum
programme committed itself to ``maximum
autonomy'' to Kashmir. The party said talks with
rebels in both the states should be under the
framework of the the Constitution.
------------------------------
Date: July 28, 1997
Source: The Telegraph
UMA BHARATI BARES 'SOUL' TO KEEP MENTOR AFLOAT
FROM TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
Gwalior, July 27
After 10 years as a sanyasin-politician, Ms Uma
Bharti, the BJP's saffron-clad rabble-rouser,
looked back on the turning point of her life
during the concluding function of a three-day
party convention here. Recalling her
association with her political mentor, Rajmata
Vijayaraje Scindia, the stormy petrel of
Hindutva recounted how a decade ago, she had
taken the most crucial decision of her life.
She had turned away the baraat (marriage party)
of a man who had come to marry her. "Maine apni
baraat lauta di thi. (I forced my groom's
marriage party to return)," she said. She went
on: "My relatives had set the marriage for
February 13, 1987, without informing me. Such
marriages take place everywhere in Madhya
Pradesh. The marriage party accompanying the
groom arrived at my house that evening." Ms
Bharti said she took the groom aside and asked
him why he wanted to marry her. "I told him a
bride like me would spoil his life. And after
hearing me out, he was convinced. The baraat
went back." The BJP MP said after the incident,
she again approached the Rajmata. "I told her I
wanted to be a nun. Rajmata was surprised. She
asked me if I had thought about the idea
seriously. I said it was my final decision,"
she said. The Rajmata took Ms Bharti to a swami
in Karnataka, who initiated her. "It was the
Rajmata who offered first alms to me as a nun,"
the MP recalled. Ms Bharti said: "If she (the
Rajmata) wanted, she could have had any post in
the BJP. But she always stayed away from the
race for plum positions."
Date: July 29, 1997
Source: UNI and Redif on Net
BJP goes hammer and tongs at Gujral
The Bharatiya Janata Party national executive
deplored the United Front government's ''shocking
inaction'' in fighting corruption.
Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, the BJP said, has
''conclusively'' demonstrated that he is ''incapable
of taking a principled stand''.
A vast gulf separates what the prime minister claims
to be his belief -- that ''drastic action'' is called
for to fight corruption -- and his masterly inaction
in putting into practice this belief. Indeed, Gujral
has excelled in the art of practising passivity even
while preaching action, the BJP executive said, in a
resolution after its two-day session in New Delhi.
Gujral ''owes'' his present parliamentary career to
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, the
BJP said. He knows that if he takes any step towards
combating corruption, he will lose the office which
he owes to the support of those who are responsible
for injecting the poison of corruption into ''the
veins of the nation''.
It is because of this that Gujral sacked Central
Bureau of Investigation chief Joginder Singh who
pursued the fodder scam and the Bofors scandal. For
the same reason he has refused to get rid of the
three Laloo Yadav aides in his ministry.
The most glaring instance of the Gujral government's
''willing passivity'' was its refusal to act against
Laloo Yadav even after he was chargesheeted by the
CBI in the fodder scam.
The UF government will claim it has scored a big
success by getting Laloo Yadav to demit office.
However, his resignation is as much a sham as the
installation of his wife as the chief minister. ''As
the de facto chief minister of Bihar, he will
continue with his reign of terror and intimidation.
If his regime did not enjoy any credibility, the new
arrangement lacks legitimacy,'' the BJP executive
observed.
Therefore, the national executive resolved to
continue the BJP's struggle against the regime.
It is ironical that the prime minister cannot claim
with any degree of confidence that he commands the
direct support of more than five per cent of the
total strength of the Lok Sabha. Yet, he remains in
office because it serves the interests of those who
stand to gain from his inaction and passivity.
Leading ''this pack'' is the Left which has excelled
in Orwellian doublespeak, the BJP alleged. Despite
opposing Laloo Yadav on his home turf, the Left has
constantly shied away from forcing the government's
hands, the executive alleged.
Lashing out at the CPI-M's "unprincipled attitude,"
the BJP said the party has shown no compunction in
collaborating with the Congress.
As for the other pillar of the ''secular forces,''
the Congress, the BJP said it has plumbed further
depths of crass opportunism and struck bargains to
protect its leaders from the law for their sins of
omission and commission.
Fifty years ago, at the dawn of independence, the
Congress dazzled the people with its stellar role in
the freedom struggle. Fifty years later, it evokes
nothing but contempt from the same people.
If the UF will go down in history for allowing the
corrupt to go free, the Congress has gone down in
history for allowing the corrupt to flourish.
Like the proverbial cat which went on a pilgrimage
after killing a hundred rats, the Congress is
demanding the sacking of the BJP-Shiv Sena government
in Maharashtra for the July 11 police firing, it
alleged.
Those leading the chorus have conveniently forgotten
that 130 Gowaris died a brutal death at the gates of
the Maharashtra assembly in Nagpur. That hundreds
were killed and many more maimed in vicious rioting
and the serial bomb blasts, all during Congress rule,
it said. The incidents occurred only three years ago.
On that occasion, no tears were shed, nor was the
demand that the chief minister should resign
countenanced.
The BJP condemned the hostile campaign launched by
the Congress and noted with concern that is the
fourth time a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar has been
desecrated on the eve of or during an assembly
session. This is not entirely coincidental, but, the
BJP alleged, a part of the Congress's desperate bid
to regain power.
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Date: July 29, 1997
Source: Hindustan Times
BJP drops demand for Central rule
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PATNA, July 28 (HT Correspondent) The Bharatiya Janata Party has suspended
its demand for imposition of President's rule in Bihar in the wake of Laloo
Prasad Yadav's resignation from the post of Chief Minister, party spokesman
Yashwant Sinha said here today.
Addressing a Press conference, Mr Sinha said that the party has taken this
decision in view of the fact that the new Chief Minister, Mrs Rabri Devi,
has so far not been made an accused in any case. He also said that she was
the elected leader of the RJD legislature party, no matter how the election
was conducted.
He, however, said that the party would closely watch the activities of the
Chief Minister and if she was found to be involved in any case, the party
would definitely ask for imposition of the President's rule in the State.
"Today our demand for dismissal of the Government does not stand," he added.
The BJP spokesman reiterated the demand of the party for fresh elections in
Bihar. He said both the Janata Dal and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have lost
the confidence of the people. They should not hesitate to seek the people's
mandate.
Mr Sinha who arrived here today amid much fanfare after being exonerated in
the hawala case spent much of his time at the Press conference explaining
how he had wrongly been framed in the case.
He said that though wrongly he was dragged into the case, responding to the
demand of public life into the case he resigned not only from the post of
Leader of Opposition, but also from the Vidhan Sabha.
"Even the BJP president, Mr Lal Krishna Advani and the then Chief Minister
of Delhi, Mr Madan Lal Khurana resigned from their respectives posts," he
said, adding "here lies the difference between the BJP and other parties."
He said that he would soon be visiting all the districts of Bihar to make
the people aware about the real politics of the RJD president, Mr Laloo
Prasad Yadav.
"I am pained to say that during its 4,000 years of history Bihar was never
humiliated the way it faced humiliation during the Laloo regime. It is
perhaps unprecedented that a warrant of arrest was issued against a Chief
Minister. And when he found that his arrest had become imminent, he anyhow
managed to get his wife elected. This was definitely an insult on Bihar,"
the party spokesman said.
When asked whether he would seek fresh election and return to the Vidhan
Sabha, Mr Sinha said "I have no such plan in my mind. The BJP has made me
spokesman of the party which is by all accounts, an important
responsibility."
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End of bjp-l-digest V1 #345
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