Thakre warns of instability

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, JULY 1. The Bharatiya Janata Party president, Mr. Kushabhau Thakre, made it absolutely clear today to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, that the party was totally against the Kashmir autonomy demand which must be ``rejected outright.''

The working committee of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, currently meeting in Ahmedabad, is also expected to adopt a strong resolution tomorrow against any return to the pre-1953 status for Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr. Thakre, who was away in Ahmedabad returned this morning and will go back for the RSS session, is expected to have briefed the Prime Minister on this.

The big three in the BJP - Mr. Vajpayee, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, and Mr. Thakre - met for nearly two hours today to discuss a number of important issues, especially the autonomy resolution adopted by the Kashmir assembly and the overall political situation in Uttar Pradesh.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Vajpayee met a number of senior Ministers, presumably to discuss the Kashmir situation informally.

Among those present were Mr. Advani, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Mr. George Fernandes, who has just returned from Russia, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr. P. R. Kumaramangalam. Thus the process of discussing the issue with NDA partners has already begun.

After meeting the Prime Minister, Mr. Thakre told reporters: ``Return to the pre-1953 status for Kashmir would lead to disintegration of not only Jammu and Kashmir but would also create instability in the rest of the country with other States demanding autonomy.''

He said he had made the party's position very clear to the Prime Minister, that it was in favour of ``rejecting outright'' the State Government's demand.

The Kashmir development has come for the BJP at a most inopportune moment, as it coincides with the birth centenary celebrations of its hero, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerji. The party cannot and will not accept a return to the pre-1953 status demanded by the National Conference.

In fact, there are many voices in the party which would rather get the Abdullah Government dismissed than countenance even a discussion on autonomy.

With the monsoon session of Parliament due to begin a fortnight from now, the Government needs to come up with a concrete plan and a specific view on what to do with the autonomy resolution.

U.P. situation discussed

Senior party leaders hinted that the situation in Uttar Pradesh, where a replacement of the Chief Minister is a possibility, would have been discussed but Mr. Thakre denied this, saying only the results of the recent panchayat elections in the State came up. Although the Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, asserted in Lucknow today that there was no threat to his Government, party sources here have been saying ``a change cannot be ruled out''. The party feels this could take place after the organisation elections in the State in the third week of July.

Several other issues, including the anti-government stance of the RSS affiliate, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, and the `Tamil Eelam' issue raked up by the BJP's allies in Tamil Nadu, are also believed to have figured at the meeting.

What may worry the Government is that the SJM, backed by the RSS, has announced a series of public agitations against policies which it said were ``against national interest,'' thus sending a signal that there was no consensus on reforms even within the Sangh Parivar.

And tomorrow Mr. Advani and Dr. Farooq Abdullah will be among the dignitaries attending the `Tamil Awakening' rally of the MDMK in Erode, Tamil Nadu. The Government would like to ensure that nothing is done or said there which would embarrass it.

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