B. Muralidhar Reddy
The Hindu
September 20, 1999
Title: Voters will teach Cong. a lesson: PM Author: B. Muralidhar Reddy Publication: The Hindu Date: September 20, 1999 PATNA, SEPT. 19. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today launched a frontal attack on the Congress (I) for what he termed as ``politics of destabilisation'' and accused it of thrusting a mid-term election for narrow political gains. At an election meeting here, Mr. Vajpayee, made a passionate appeal to the people to give a decisive mandate in favour of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to enable it to rule for five years and ``transform'' the face of the country. The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, former Railway Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, former Union Minister and senior Janata Dal(U) leader, Mr. Ramvilas Paswan, and a host of other senior leaders of the BJP from the State, were present. Mr. Vajpayee's speech was dominated by attack on the Congress(I) though the party is contesting a very few seats in the north and central parts of Bihar which are scheduled to go to polls on September 25 and October 3. Mr. Vajpayee's attack was interpreted by political observers here as an attempt by the BJP to wean away the sections of the upper caste electorate which still has faith in the Congress. At one stage, the crowd became so restless that there were demands asking Mr. Vajpayee to speak against the ``jungle raj'' of the Rashtriya Janata Dal led by Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav. Mr. Vajpayee spoke about the attempt made by his Government to bring Bihar under Central rule and the role played by the Congress (I) in bailing out the Rabri Devi Government by voting against the resolution on the Central rule in Bihar in the Lok Sabha. ``We are against use of Article 356 to dismiss any State Government and yet we had no alternative but to invoke it in Bihar. We thought Congress would endorse it but the party ditched us. My Government was helpless as it did not have the requisite majority. Now I have come to you to seek a clear mandate,'' he said. The Prime Minister made it a point to heap rich praises on Mr. George Fernandes, Mr. Ramvilas Paswan and Mr. Nitish Kumar. He said in Bihar forces which had been in the forefront of struggle for social justice had come together to fight against the ``corrupt'' RJD Government which had joined hands with the Congress. He referred to allegations leveled against the Defence Minister by Opposition parties and said Mr. Fernandes as Defence Minister had done a splendid job in a short span. ``All kinds of baseless allegations have been leveled against Mr. Fernandes. In such a short period he has made tremendous contribution towards strengthening of the security of the nation.'' He was equally liberal in his praise for Mr. Nitish Kumar and Mr. Ramvilas Paswan. He said Mr. Nitish Kumar resigned as Railway Minister following a railway accident despite his (Mr. Vajpayee's) insistence to continue in office. There was a moment of embarrassment for Mr. Paswan when a section of the crowd asked him to explain why he chose to vote against the Vajpayee Government during trust motion in the Lok Sabha. Mr. Vajpayee began his speech with the preface that the mid-term election had been imposed on the nation by the Congress because it could never reconcile itself to the situation of being out of power. ``Till date they have not answered as to why they have forced an election. The electorate will teach the Congress a befitting lesson.'' The Kargil theme of the Prime Minister's speech was on familiar lines. He said India had fought several wars in the past but never had it emerged as triumphant as in the Kargil conflict with Pakistan. He termed the charges of Opposition that he visited the Kargil front after an understanding with the Nawaz Sharif Government that there would be no shelling as ridiculous and said such allegations were an insult to the valour demonstrated by the soldiers on the front. Mr. Vajpayee asked the supporters of the NDA to go out and vote and ensure that the ballot boxes were not tampered with. ``I know any thing can happen in this land. So beware.'' PTI reports: Mr. Vajpayee also said India was prepared to cooperate with the international community to check Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in several countries. ``India is ready to cooperate with global powers to check Pak-sponsored terrorism in the world. India is not the lone victim,'' Mr. Vajpayee said. He said Pakistan had become a centre for carrying out terrorist operations in different parts of the world and a concreted effort was required to ``crush such activities for global peace.''
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