PM keen on appeasing RSS, says CPI(M)

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 28. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today took objection to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, preferring to make a statement on Ayodhya outside Parliament and charged that he appeared keen on keeping the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh happy.

At a press conference here, the CPI(M) parliamentary party leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, said it was ``amazing'' that the Prime Minister announced at a press conference that he was hopeful that attempts to arrive at a solution to the Ayodhya tangle would bear fruit by March next year.

Parliament was not taken into confidence on talks being held with ``undisclosed and unidentified people'' on the issue. The mention of March was significant in the light of elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

The positive RSS reaction only affirmed that Mr. Vajpayee was keen on keeping the Sangh Parivar in good humour which alone could ensure that he retained his post, Mr. Chatterjee said.

Reiterating that Mr. Vajpayee was hardly present in the House and that the BJP was no longer bothered about its allies, he said, ``it has become worse than a railway platform and anyone can get in and get out at any time. However, unlike a traveller there is no destination.''

In an apparent reference to the Trinamool Congress, he said the party wanted to rejoin the NDA only because it received a drubbing in the assembly elections. The NDA lacked a governing coalition principle.

Two CPI(M) women MPs, Dr. A. K. Premajam and Ms. Sarla Maheshwari told reporters they had complained to the Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, alleging that a police inspector at Badarpur had ``misbehaved'' with them when they went there to find out about his behaviour with party women activists. The two MPs had also raised the issue in Parliament.

Dangerous, says Mulayam

UNI reports from Varanasi:

The Samajwadi Party president, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, has termed ``dangerous'', Mr. Vajpayee's reported statement on the Ayodhya dispute and demanded a clarification.

At a press conference, he said it was unfortunate that Mr. Vajpayee made the statement outside Parliament during the monsoon session. He also regretted that the Prime Minister had not fully explained his statement, keeping the public in the dark about the content and direction of the negotiations reportedly being conducted by the Government with some groups.

It appeared that the BJP had once again decided to raise the Ayodhya issue to gain political mileage, ignoring its dangerous fallout, he said.

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