NDA won't deviate from common agenda: Venkaiah

By Our Special Correspondent.

HYDERABAD, DEC. 26. The National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre will not deviate from the common agenda and the Congress attempts to wean away the allies towards a third front are bound to fail, the Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr. M Venkaiah Naidu, said here today.

He told mediapereons that the Congress should not day dream of coming to power and talk of destabilisation all the time.

He said that the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya was certainly part of the BJP agenda, but was not in the NDA agenda. There was no question of the NDA alliance working towards that goal. ``The BJP is the largest party in this alliance, but the Government is not that of the BJP alone. We are bound by the common agenda. There is no alternative to the NDA, and there is no alternative to Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. I appeal to the Congress to work hard in the next four years and win popular support and contest elections,'' he said.

Mr. Naidu said that what Mr. Vajpayee said recently was that a temple at Ayodhya can be built if the Hindus and Muslims sit together and come to a mutual understanding as to the site of the temple. ``There is nothing wrong in this statement. The BJP wants Hindus and Muslims to come together while the Congress wants them to be divided. Can anybody object if two communities agree on the site for the Ram temple?'' he asked.

He said a mid-term appraisal by the Planning Commission had shown that the population of people living below poverty line had come down to 29 per cent. ``This is a positive development. One should be happy about it''.

Mr. Naidu said that he saw the ``rationale'' behind the demand of some States that performing States, where there was reduction in the poverty levels, were ``punished'' while the non- performing States, where people below poverty line increased, got more allocations. This is because allocation of central resources was based on parameters such as poverty and backwardness. But, he said, he cannot change the parameters for Central aid now. One should discuss the issue in the Chief Ministers' conference and other national fora. There can be a cut-off date five years from now, when a new set of parameters could be introduced, because if they are changed now, States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which are poor and backward, would complain of lesser allocations.

He said that under the new scheme of rural roads announced by the Prime Minister at Delhi on Monday, Andhra Pradesh would get Rs. 190 crores for roads connecting villages with at least a population of 1,000 with main marketing centres. Under watershed development, the State got the maximum allocation from the Centre, he said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Violence casts shadow over peace moves
Next     : `No review of cricket tour'