The Hindu : Naidu's poser to Sonia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 01, 2003

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Naidu's poser to Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai May 31. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's criticism of the Vajpayee Government's handling of the Kashmir crisis is "highly objectionable", according to the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu.

"It is only criticism for the sake of criticism. This is not expected of the leader of a mature party which had been in power for over four decades in the country," Mr. Naidu told the media here today.

At Friday's conclave of the Congress Chief Ministers in Srinagar, Ms. Sonia Gandhi had said that the Vajpayee Government lacked "clarity and consistency'' in dealing with the Kashmir impasse. Rebutting the criticism, Mr. Naidu asked if Ms. Gandhi was saying that Pakistan was not at all responsible for the Kargil conflict and the failure of the Lahore and Agra peace initiatives and that the Vajpayee Government ought to be blamed.

Referring to her remarks that the door to peace with Pakistan should always be kept open, Mr. Naidu asked if India should not fight Pakistan even if it intruded into the country and did another Kargil. There was no rationale in Ms. Gandhi's argument.

Asked about Pakistan's directive to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to shut down all the terrorist camps, he said he would not "give it total credibility" unless the words were matched by deeds.

`Kalyan chapter closed'

On the political crisis in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Naidu said the Chief Minister, Mayawati, spoke to him this morning and there was no threat to her Government. Supported by the BJP, it had adequate numbers even after the withdrawal of support by the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal.

As for the exit of Ajit Singh from the NDA-led Government at the Centre, Mr. Naidu said his party was not part of the NDA and that the BJP was aware of his hobnobbing with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for some time now.

Asked if there was a possibility of the former Chief Minister, Kalyan Singh's re-entry into the BJP, Mr. Naidu firmly said the "Kalyan Singh chapter is closed". He discounted suggestions that the NDA allies were causing embarrassment to the Vajpayee Government, especially in the context of the MDMK Minister, Gingee Ramachandran's resignation after his personal assistant was caught for allegedly taking bribes and the refusal of the Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, to join the Cabinet.

She could not join the Vajpayee Ministry only because of a communication problem and it had been sorted out.

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