The Hindu : Chautala cautions regional parties against BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

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Other States - Haryana

Chautala cautions regional parties against BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 13. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo and Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, has once again cautioned the regional parties to beware of "sinister designs of the Bharatiya Janata Party in general and the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, in particular".

In letters sent to leaders of the regional parties, Mr. Chautala has reminded them that "arrogance and the desire to appropriate all political space by the so-called claimants to the tag of `national parties' had always led to suppression of regional aspirations''. The unwillingness of the bigger parties to appreciate and accommodate the aspirations of the sub-regional parties has been a stumbling block in faster progress of the country, he said.

Mr. Chautala recalled that the NDA Government at the Centre had enjoyed unconditional and selfless support from the INLD at a time when the country appeared to be getting engulfed in political instability. In this context, the appeal made by Mr. Advani recently to the voters of Haryana to vote either for the BJP or for the Congress but not for any regional party suggested "diabolical intentions''. He warned the regional parties of the possibility of the BJP betraying its regional allies in favour of Congress if that helped it to cling on to power.

According to an INLD spokesman, Mr. Chautala has shot off letters to regional leaders, including George Fernandes, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Navin Patnaik, Farooq Abdullah, P.K. Mahanta, Parkash Singh Badal and J. Jayalalithaa.

Mr. Chautala said he was both hurt and shocked at the blatant attempt of the Deputy Prime Minister to impose the monopoly of the bigger parties in the electoral arena. "Mr. Advani's exhortation is not only limiting the democratic rights of the voters of India but also reveals the pathetic understanding of the regional aspirations of the people of this country by him. Understandably, I reacted. After having ruled at the Centre with the support of the regional allies, you would notice that Mr. Advani did not hesitate to ask the voters to vote for the Congress, the party Mr. Advani and the BJP have been canvassing against all their lives. This makes me wonder if the sole objective of Mr. Advani and the BJP is to cling on to power even if it has to join hands with the Congress. Such opportunistic planning and blatant disregard for those voters whose aspirations are met only by the regional political parties, needs to be exposed," he wrote.

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Chautala cautions regional parties against BJP