The Hindu : BJP to finalise candidates list on March 14, 15

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 11, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

BJP to finalise candidates list on March 14, 15

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 10. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will finalise its list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections (in the States where they are being held) on March 14 and 15 when the party's central election committee meets in Delhi, the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, announced here today.

Mr. Naidu said the committee would take into confidence the State-level election committees before announcing the first list. Mr. Naidu was addressing a press conference on arrival from Kanyakumari where, earlier in the day, he flagged off the Bharat Uday Yatra of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani. The Union Law Minister and in-charge of the party's campaign in the State, Arun Jaitley, accompanied him.

He clarified that the yatra was in support of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and there was "no politics" in that. The yatra would be a turning point in Indian politics, he said and gave an assurance that there would not be any cause for trouble, but if some people instigated violence, they would be held responsible for it.

On minorities joining the BJP, Mr. Naidu said: "If they come in good number, we will give them good representation (in seat allocation)." The minorities were feeling safe and had confidence in the governance of the BJP, which had a three-point charter: providing education, economic uplift and empowerment.

Asked whether any action would be taken against the Modi Government in Gujarat (for the carnage), Mr. Naidu shot back, "Why should we? There is no need to take action against an elected Government."

Reiterating that the BJP would form the Government in the State, Mr. Naidu said it would be a "single party rule." Ruling out any alliance at the State level, he said it would have an understanding with the AIADMK on seats. "Five Assembly seats (which the AIADMK had sought) is not a big number of the 224 seats." The party would deliberate upon the proposal, he said, but clarified that neither "will the BJP have any say in the AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu nor will the AIADMK have any role here." Mr. Naidu said he was in Karnataka to exhort the people to vote for a party that would "work in tandem with the Government at the Centre." Mr. Naidu said that the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, had confined his governance to Bangalore and its periphery.

The anti-incumbency factor was strong here, he said. Asked whether the BJP would include in its election manifesto the arrest of Veerappan, he replied in the positive.

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