PM hopeful of solution to Ayodhya issue by March

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, AUG. 26. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today expressed the hope that a solution to the Ayodhya issue would be found by March next year. Negotiations were being held by different people at different levels. The issue was very much under the attention of his Government and ``hopefully some thing positive will emerge by March''.

Mr. Vajpayee also clarified that he had never stated that religious conversions in general were unconstitutional. In fact, conversions had been guaranteed by the Constitution. But there was one aspect which did not have the sanction of the Constitution and this was the conversion of people taking advantage of their poverty. He had only disagreed about this aspect.

Mr. Vajpayee said the National Democratic Alliance convener, Mr. George Fernandes, was not interested in returning to the Union Cabinet until the allegations levelled against him in the Tehelka episode were proved false. The Prime Minister expressed the hope that Mr. Fernandes would soon be acquitted of all the charges against him.

Mamata to be reinducted?

He, however, hinted that the Trinamool Congress leader, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, might be reinducted into the NDA in the near future. ``Mamata ke liye mere dil men vishesh mamata hai'' (I have a soft corner for Ms. Mamata Banerjee), he said adding the issue would be discussed and a decision taken in due course.

Rejecting the Opposition charge that efforts were being made to saffronise education by his Government, he said, ``these allegations are being deliberately raised to defame the BJP. And as the elections come closer more such allegations will be raised.'' When the issue was raised in Parliament, the Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, gave a detailed reply to the charges. When Dr. Joshi sought proof of the allegations being made, the Opposition failed to respond convincingly, Mr. Vajpayee said and claimed that his Government was trying to make education completely free from bias.

He said the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, had got an assurance from the Nepal Government that it would not allow its territory to be used for anti-Indian activities. Mr. Singh had raised the matter before the King of Nepal and other leaders, and after his return had briefed the Cabinet about his discussions.

Asked if it was fair for various leaders to assail madrasas which had been in the forefront of the freedom struggle, Mr. Vajpayee said the situation before Independence was quite different. The Government now wanted the madrasas to become true centres of knowledge and learning.

The Prime Minister stressed that the economic situation was not as bleak as it was made out to be. The country had huge stocks of foodgrains and adequate foreign reserves. Some of the financial problems were because of global problems. The Government was, however, alive to the issue and was taking steps to resolve them.

The Government had decided to bring in a legislation to control the functioning of non-banking finance companies, many of which had been responsible for swindling public money in the past. There were failures but action was now being taken to protect the interest of investors, Mr. Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister, who arrived here shortly after noon, received a number of delegations in the Raj Bhavan and in the evening participated in a function organised to felicitate Prasar Bharati artistes.

PTI reports:

The various incentives which were being given to industries would soon start showing positive results, he said. India was ``not alone to be affected by the present economic crisis. The economic slowdown is an international phenomenon and also affected us greatly.''

Refusing to agree that there was darkness everywhere, the Prime Minister said, ``there is a silver lining also. The present economic crisis will be overcome with the Government taking some concrete and tough measures''.

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