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Vajpayee says he is ready for support from 'any quarter'

The Bharatiya Janata Party appears to be moving closer to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, a bitter political opponent of its ally the All India Anna DMK, with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee asserting today that his party would accept support from any quarter.

Addressing a press conference at the Raj Bhavan in Madras before leaving for Delhi, Vajpayee said he had told DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi yesterday that the BJP was indeed a secular party.

He was answering a question on Karunanidhi's offer to support the BJP-led coalition government if the BJP proved its secular credentials.

"I raised this question when he (Karunanidhi) met me yesterday and I told him that we are secular... We don't need certificate from any others (on secular credentials)", he said.

He, however, made it clear that there was no parleys with the DMK in this regard.

Vajpayee seemed to be uncertain about the continued support of its senior Tamil Nadu ally, the AIADMK.

Asked how reliable the AIADMK was as an ally, especially when its chief J Jayalalitha had accused the Prime Minister's Office of accepting bribes and charged that L K Advani was unfit to be home minister, Vajpayee, after a pause, said: "Only the future can tell."

Vajpayee laughed away the question if he was happy with the AIADMK and its alleged move to align with the Congress party.

Asked how he was able to attract both the AIADMK and its opponent the DMK, Vajpayee after some laughter, seemed to acknowledge the fact. "It requires investigative journalism," he shot back.

Asked about his remarks last night that the rally organised by the Marumalarchi DMK, another ally of the BJP, was historic and marked a new dimension in Tamil Nadu politics, Vajpayee said: "What I wanted to say I had said. It is for you to make your own inferences."

Replying to a question, Vajpayee said he did not mean Jayalalitha when he remarked last night that leaders of coalition parties were impatient and took up issues in public.

Asked whether he saw any realignment of political parties in Tamil Nadu, he said he would not like to make any forecast in this regard.

He answered in the negative when asked whether he had any proposal to meet Jayalalitha today.

Asked how he hoped to cope with the pressures from his alliance partners, Vajpayee said he was already coping with such pressures.

He said the coordination committee of the ruling coalition would meet at Delhi soon after he returned from his trip from New York. The much awaited Cabinet expansion would also take place after his return, he added.

The prime minister asserted that there was no alternative to his government.

Vajpayee described as "opportunistic" the move of the Left parties and the Congress party to form an alternative government.

He was confident that his party would win the coming assembly election in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Asked whether he thought his government would last full five years, the prime minister quipped, "I can't say."

Asked about the attack on minorities in Gujarat, Vajpayee said he deplored such attacks. The government would do nothing that would affect the minorities psychologically as it believed that they should be treated equally. The government had already asked the states to take stern action. "There are some hot-headed people trying to create problems. But they will not be allowed to disturb peace and communal harmony," he added.

On the mishandling of the Bezbaruah transfer issue, the prime minister said he had already asked Attorney General Soli Sorabjee to investigate and he was awaiting the report.

UNI

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