Pioneer News Service / New Delhi
The Pioneer
October 11, 1999
Title: No room for populist measures, PM tells allies Author: Pioneer News Service / New Delhi Publication: The Pioneer Date: October 11, 1999 Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was formally elected as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) here on Sunday. He will be sworn in as the Prime Minister on Wednesday. Mr Vajpayee's name was proposed by the convenor of the alliance, George Fernandes, and seconded by Union Home Minister L K Advani. Now that the formality is over, Mr Vajpayee is expected to meet President K R Narayanan on Thursday and stake his claim to form the Government. Mr Vajpayee said the people had given a decisive mandate to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form a stable government at the Centre, and asserted that "the NDA's emergence as a ruling coalition was one of the most important political developments in the history of independent India." Thanking the NDA MPs for electing him as leader of the NDA parliamentary party, Mr Vajpayee said the NDA augurs well for the future of India. "It strengthens India's unity and integrity and also celebrates our rich diversity." Later, Mr Vajpayee said that alliance partners must resist populist pressures if some hard decisions are taken by the new Government and in this regard he urged the NDA to shed its Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) elected Mr Vajpayee as leader of its parliamentary party. On this occassion, his name was proposed by Mr Advani and seconded by Union Industry Minister Sikander Bhakt. Addressing members of the NDA parliamentary party, Mr Vajpayee said that the alliance would have to defend some tough decisions that the Government may have to take. He said the Government would have to take decisions to improve the pace of development. He said since these decisions would benefit the country, the people have to be prepared. The Prime Minister agreed that the hike in diesel prices would put a burden on the public, but the Government had been left with no other option. Mr Vajpayee said there was need to re-focus priorities. "We will have to change our thinking as we are accountable to the electorate for our deeds. This mandate is a challenge to us and we should accept it," he added. He sought cooperation from all sections and hoped that the Opposition would also extend constructive cooperation. Mr vajpayee said: "In the past 16 months, unwittingly we had committed mistakes of acting as Opposition members. Now things have changed. Be prepared to reply to unpalatable hard decisions that may be taken by the Government from time to time.'' About the promises made during the election campaign, Mr Vajpayee said people had lost patience after having waited for 45 long years to get their grievances redressed. He said NDA was not only an alliance for political gains but an instrument for bring about social justice and economic upliftment. Mr Vajpayee said the outcome of general elections had once again demonstrated the strength of Indian democracy. The failure in some states would have to be reviewed. "We will go deep into the causes of reversals," he said without naming Uttar Pradesh. The major outcome of this election was that the BJP's area of influence has expanded and the NDA has got a clear majority. "With this, our representation has increased. We will go ahead with completing the unfinished task," he said. Mr Vajpayee referred to the manner in which his Government had fallen. He said the people felt that some injustice had been done and his Government must be given opportunity to complete unfinished task. The BJP parliamentary party adopted a resolution, authorising Mr Vajpayee to constitute the parliamentary executive and nominate office-bearers. Mr Advani earlier said it was a historic occasion for the BJP and the country's polity. He said the NDA had representatives from all over the country.
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