The Hindu : NDA responsible for lack of consensus: Deve Gowda

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 23, 2002

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NDA responsible for lack of consensus: Deve Gowda

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 22. A consensus on the presidential candidate could have been reached if the National Democratic Alliance, particularly the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had proposed the name of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in the beginning itself, the former Prime Minister, Deve Gowda, said today.

His party, along with the Left, had decided to field Capt. Lakhshmi Sahgal against Dr. Kalam to protest the "manoeuvrings" of the NDA, he said, adding that the contest might be an unequal one, but was a symbolic fight against the manner in which the entire issue had been handled. Dr. Kalam was not even the NDA's second choice and his name had cropped up at the last minute.

The first choice of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, its electoral ally, was the Maharashtra Governor, P.C. Alexander, but it was only after the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, indicated his preference for the Vice-President, Krishan Kant, that Mr. Vajpayee thought of Mr. Kalam as a compromise candidate, Mr. Gowda said.

Accusing the NDA of demeaning the process of electing the next President, he said "the conduct of Mr. Vajpayee has brought down the image of the office of the Prime Minister.'' The entire Opposition, including the Congress, had agreed to Mr. Kant's name but it was opposed by the hardliners within the BJP and the Sangh Parivar.

Referring to the claims of the political parties that they had supported Dr. Kalam because he belonged to the minority community, Mr. Gowda said he doubted their commitment to the minorities.

People were not so naive as to believe that the BJP and the NDA were supporting Dr. Kalam out of their love for the minorities. "They want to cover up for Gujarat,'' he said.

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