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Pawar for deferring foreign origin issue

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 7. The Nationalist Congress Party president, Sharad Pawar, said today that the issue of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin could be deferred till the next Parliamentary elections, and, instead, made out a case for the secular parties to bury their differences and come together to provide a viable alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, particularly in Gujarat.

Inaugurating a two-day national camp of the party here, Mr. Pawar assigned the NCP a key role in fostering such a secular alliance to fight the BJP in the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat. Though there was "little to choose" between the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, and the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Shankarsinh Waghela, he said the NCP would be willing to join hands with a secular front to ensure against a division of the vote. Upset by suggestions that the NCP was trying to help the BJP by contesting in Gujarat, Mr. Pawar asserted that the party would be prepared to be part of a viable secular alternative to consolidate the secular vote bank. Mr. Pawar refused to comment on whether or not his party would join a secular front led by the Congress. However, he did indicate that the NCP would not be averse to such an arrangement to keep the BJP out of power quite like the way it had joined hands with the Congress in Maharashtra against the saffron combine.

Though not particularly confident of the Congress having the wherewithal to take the lead in such an effort, Mr. Pawar also dismissed the talk of a non-Congress, non-BJP front. He said its advocates were not pursuing it seriously. But, he stressed the need for "rising above political likes and dislikes on issues of national interest."

While the party's political resolution moved by the general secretary, P.A. Sangma, mentions at considerable length `the foreigner issue', and his colleague, Tariq Anwar, commented on the NCP's stand being vindicated by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa's recent statements, Mr. Pawar said this was an issue that ought to be addressed at an "appropriate time."

Later, he said that it should be raised during the Lok Sabha elections, and Ms. Gandhi's origins would not have a bearing on the NCP's strategy for the Gujarat polls where the party's priority was to keep Mr. Modi out.

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