HVK Archives: Vajpayee warns rivals to play by rules of game
Vajpayee warns rivals to play by rules of game - The Observer
Observer Political Bureau / Agencies
()
December 22, 1997
Title: Vajpayee warns rivals to play by rules of game
Author: Observer Political Bureau / Agencies
Publication: The Observer
Date: December 22, 1997
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday called for a "level-playing
field" in the mid-term elections and warned its political
adversaries not to play foul as it expected them to adhere to
rules and norms which it had been doing for the last 40 years.
Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of the three-day
national executive here, BJP prime ministerial candidate Atal
Bihari Vajpayee said that the party was going in for alliances
with regional parties so as to enable it to get clear majority in
the Lok Sabha.
He said that the party did not want to take a chance and be "left
on the lurch" like it happened last year, when there was a short-
lived BJP Government.
Mr Vajpayee said that though the party did not consider others as
its "enemies," but only as "political adversaries," yet the
Congress was its "enemy number one."
The national executive, which had adopted only one resolution on
the political situation, also decided to give adequate
representation to minorities and women in the Lok Sabha
elections.
Mr Vajpayee said that the party would give tickets only to
candidates without criminal background and those having a clean
image.
The first list of party candidates would be released in Delhi
after the two-day meeting of the Central election committee on
January 10 and 11, party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said.
Sounding confident of a victory in the forthcoming hustings, with
a little help from new-found allies in the south and east, Mr
Vajpayee said that a new era was beginning in Indian politics.
In an hour-long exchange with newsmen at a press conference
wrapping up the BJP's three-day national executive here, Mr
Vajpayee defended his party's alliance with the AIADMK whose
supremo Ms Jayalalitha is facing serious charges of corruption.
"If charges against Ms Jayalalitha are proved, then she will have
to face the consequences," he said.
When asked what justification he could give for the fact that the
BJP had tied up with Ms Jayalalitha on one hand and was
campaigning against Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav on the corruption issue
on the other, Mr Vajpayee said that "there is a lot of difference
between the case of Jayalalitha and Laloo Prasad Yadav."
"Ms Jayalalitha is facing a trial and she has denied the charge.
The case is in the court. Under the law, a person cannot be
pronounced guilty until proven beyond reasonable doubt," Mr
Vajpayee asserted to defend his party's alliance with AIADMK in
Tamil Nadu and added that "she is not yet convicted."
He, however, admitted that the case was the same with Mr Laloo
Yadav, who too had not yet been convicted by a court of law. But,
Mr Vajpayee maintained that the case against the former Bihar
chief minister was of a different type. "We have joined hands
with Ms Jayalalitha to increase our strength in Tamil Nadu," the
BJP veteran said.
To a question as to how the alliance would benefit in the State
where Ms Jayalalitha was thrown out by the people on the
corruption issue, Mr Vajpayee said that "in Tamil Nadu, a party
which has lost in one election comes back with a bang in the
next. It is for the people to judge."
When reminded that Mr Laloo Yadav, too, had not been convicted by
a court of law, Mr Vajpayee said that "if other political parties
want to go with Laloo, they are free to do so."
He also defended the jumbo cabinet of Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Kalyan Singh, saying that "it was necessary to block a
conspiracy to prevent the BJP from coming to power by dissolving
the State Assembly. The splits in UP were legal and
constitutional." He was referring to splits in the UP units of
the Congress and BSP.
There were examples of jumbo cabinets in the past, he said,
adding currently similar things happened in Manipur. Mr
Vajpayee also denied that any criminal was rewarded with a
ministerial berth.
"All the ministers have been told that if they commit any crime
or wrong, they will have to go out of the ministry," he said in
response to a barrage of questions relating to corruption and
criminalisation of politics.
"It was an extraordinary situation in UP," Mr Vajpayee said and
questioned as to why the BJP alone had to play by rules and
regulations all the time, when the other players were changing
the rules of the game. The UP Governor was behaving in an
arbitrary manner, he added.
When asked how could a campaign against Rajiv Gandhi on the
Bofors issue be justified when courts had not given a verdict, Mr
Vajpayee said that there were serious allegations and an inquiry
was ordered.
Moving to election issues, Mr Vajpayee declared that Ayodhya and
Swadeshi would not be major poll issues this time. "We would like
to solve the Ayodhya issue through negotiations. If they fail,
our efforts would be to change the law," he said, adding the BJP
favoured a national debate on all contentious issues, including
Article 370.
According to Mr Vajpayee, the BJP would go to polls on the issues
of stability, corruption, good governance, internal and external
security. He hoped that the signals emanating from Orissa,
indicating winds of change, would culminate into a tidal wave in
favour of the BJP by the time campaigning picked up heat.
"There will be no hung Parliament. I have no doubts that the
people will give us and our allies a convincing majority in the
coming mid-term polls," Mr Vajpayee asserted.
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