The Hindu : A name he forgot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 29, 2003

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National

A name he forgot

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR NOV. 28. It was like a commercial break during a show. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, after his 30-minute speech, returned to the microphone to mention the name of the party president in Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje Scindia. He had forgotten to mention her name during the speech and perhaps one reason for this was her absence.

At Ram Niwas Garden in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates after moving away from the microphone Mr.Vajpayee realised that he did not mention anything about the chief ministerial candidate of the party in Rajasthan.

"She is not imported or dropped from above. She has been a member of the State Assembly and Parliament. She has worked with me in the atomic energy. She has toured the world in that capacity," Mr.Vajpayee said introducing Ms. Scindia.

The legacy of the Scindia family too was not left unmentioned. "She is from Gwalior and is the daughter of Rajmata Scindia. This itself is great honour. She (Rajmata) left everything for the nation. Her kingdom as well as her son," Mr.Vajpayee said.

The party, he said, wanted to give ticket to more women but the State leaders always maintained that women candidates might not win. "We could not give ticket to as many women we wanted to but then we thought a woman could be chosen as the next Chief Minister," he said. "Vasundhara Raje is our Chief Minister," Mr.Vajpayee said.

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