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BJP seeks presidential intervention to ensure early poll

The Bharatiya Janata Party today urged President K R Narayanan to intervene and persuade the Election Commission to hold mid-term elections to the Lok Sabha early, preferably in June.

Party vice-president Krishan Lal Sharma also urged Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill to advance the proposed all-party meeting, slated for May 3, so that unanimity can be reached on holding an early election.

Lashing out at the Congress and the Left parties for "conspiring" to destabilise the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led coalition, he said there was "utter confusion" in the Opposition. "The conspiracy has boomeranged," he remarked.

He said the Congress and its president could not escape blame for thrusting another election on the electorate. They owe an explanation to the nation, he said.

The Congress president claimed to have the support of 272 members of the Lok Sabha, but could only produce a list of 233, and would have been well short even if Mulayam Singh Yadav's 20-member group had supported her.

Other parties became "victims" of the Congress game plan and are feeling let down, he remarked.

Repeating the BJP's demand for an early poll, Sharma wondered if the President would give the caretaker government a free hand to pursue economic policies.

To avoid similar problems in future, he suggested amendments to the Constitution to ensure that the Lok Sabha's five-year term is not curtailed. If one government is pulled down, another should be elected immediately, he said.

The prime minister has proved his "ability" in a short span of 13 months. "Now our thrust will be stability of the Lok Sabha. We will appeal to the people to give our combination a two-thirds majority as the Congress has betrayed the MPs, the nation and its economy," he said.

Another party vice-president, K Jana Krishnamurthy, has in a letter to CEC Gill, pleaded that the polls be held in June.

The BJP's demand was echoed by two important allies, the Biju Janata Dal of Orissa and Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh.

Union Steel and Mines Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik, who called on Gill with a BJD delegation, also requested him to conduct the assembly election in Orissa along with the Lok Sabha election in June.

He said the step would reduce expenditure and save manpower. The state assembly election is due in March 2000.

The BJD politicians also said the climate in June is better for holding an election than in September or October.

A TDP delegation led by K Yerran Naidu, leader of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party, met Gill and pleaded with him not to delay the election, saying a caretaker government cannot and should not be allowed to run for six months.

The longer the caretaker government is allowed to continue, greater will be the delay in implementing various projects as it will not be allowed to take any major policy decisions. Thus, the nation would be the sufferer.

But the delegation said there was no question of advancing the Andhra assembly election to hold it simultaneously with the Lok Sabha poll. Andhra Pradesh is scheduled to go to the polls in January 2000.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary B P Singh met Gill this morning at Nirvachan Sadan to discuss security plans and related matters for the election.

Singh described the meeting as a courtesy call and avoided all questions. But sources said internal security and pre-poll preparations in vulnerable areas were discussed.

UNI

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