Vajpayee urges President to call for fresh polls

Former prime minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee has formally requested President Shanker Dayal Sharma to order fresh Lok Sabha elections, and not allow another ''unstable'' government at the Centre.

Vajpayee made this requisition on Thursday when he called on Dr Sharma to discuss the present political crisis, party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said.

Vajpayee, she said, had emphasised that the United Front-Congress experiment should not be repeated. ''The combine will not be able to provide a stable government; so they should be advised to seek a fresh mandate,'' he told the President.

Further, the veteran leader pointed out the Congress had withdrawn support on two earlier occasions -- first when the late Charan Singh was prime minister, and then in Chandra Shekhar's time. Now, he said, they have done it again with H D Deve Gowda. The Congress, therefore, Vajpayee claimed, was not trustworthy.

Vajpayee urged the President to advise the leaders who came to meet him to prepare for another election.

He dismissed Congress president Sitaram Kesri's letter extending support to the UF under any leader other than Deve Gowda as a 'mere formality.' He claimed there was no change in the Congress stand.

"Another experiment (of the UF-Congress variety) would be unethical and unconstitutional," Vajpayee cautioned Dr Sharma.

UNI