National

CPI supports second term for Narayanan

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 15. The Communist Party of India today came out in support of re-election of K.R. Narayanan as President for a second term and appealed to all parties to elect him as a candidate on national consensus, even as the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, began consultations with political leaders on the issue.

Mr. Vajpayee had a meeting with the Samajwadi Party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, today while the MDMK leader, Vaiko, is understood to have agreed to the candidature of the Maharashtra Governor, P.C. Alexander. The CPI said the party was of the firm view that the critical situation in the country that prevailed today required a President who was firm in his "secular credentials, upholds the country's national unity and brotherhood among the people of all communities, defends the rich cultural diversities of our country, and is firm in protecting the minorities and sensitive to the aspirations and problems of weaker and deprived sections of society''.

Addressing a press conference at the end of the party's two-day national executive, the CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, said that it was for this reason that the CPI and the other Left parties supported the re-election of Mr. Narayanan. All talk about non-existing conventions relating to second term was only meant to draw a "red herring'' across the trail.

Asked whether Mr. Narayanan was prepared to be a candidate again, Mr. Bardhan said when a senior Left leader had broached the subject during a meeting, "he did not say no''.

The CPI leader demanded the dismissal of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, imposition of President's rule in the State and the removal of the Governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari. ``Gujarat is the fittest case so far as dismissal of the Government and imposition of President's rule are concerned,'' he said.

Charging Mr. Bhandari with being one of the most "incompetent and partisan" Governor, Mr. Bardhan said the party was not aware if he had made any report about the situation in Gujarat to the President. The CPI would intensify its demand for the dismissal of the Modi Government from May 21.

Condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu on Tuesday, the CPI leader said that while evidence pointed to the Pakistan hand, the Government's "inability'' to tackle terrorist activities despite "tall talk" and POTA stood exposed. There should be a crackdown on terrorists but the move should not be allowed to provoke a wider armed conflict.

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