The Hindu : National : "Congress yet to decide on demand for President's Rule in U.P."

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 31, 2005

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National

"Congress yet to decide on demand for President's Rule in U.P."

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 30. The Congress has not yet arrived at a decision to ask for President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh. The senior party leader and Union Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, said today that his party colleagues were keeping an eye on the "evolving situation in the State." The matter had been discussed but "no decision" had been taken.

He described the situation in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (where there have been a number of kidnappings involving school children) as "unfortunate." Though "on record" the Congress continues to support the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh, "that government was not dependent on [the] Congress," he said. On the Congress supporting a new Rashtriya Janata Dal government in Bihar, he preferred not to comment on "tomorrow's possibility."

Reminded of the murder of a Congressman in Rahul Gandhi's constituency and the frequent kidnappings of children in Bihar, Mr. Singh said "those were part of the unfortunate situation" in the two States. He was addressing a press conference called by him here to announce the setting up of an apex committee for overseeing the conduct of the Commonwealth Games to be hosted by India in 2010.

Mr. Singh said that while the National Democratic Alliance chairman and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, may have talked about and demanded President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh, he was also the person who had earlier spoken about an "understanding" (samjhauta) between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. In any case, the Congress would take its own decision irrespective of what Mr. Vajpayee said or thought, Mr. Singh said.

Congress-BSP ties

To a question on the Congress' relationship with the Bahujan Samaj Party, he said he was "not aware of any moves in this regard" but "parties do keep in touch with each other" and the development of a relationship "tomorrow" [between the Congress and the BSP] was "within the realm of possibility."

Asked about the comment of the RJD president, Lalu Prasad, that there was a Congress Chief Minister in Bihar when the Bhagalpur riots took place, Mr. Singh pointed out "that was the factual position." The BJP was raising the issue of Bhagalpur riots because "it had the expertise on participating in riots and getting them organised (dange karne ka aur karvane ka anubhav)." He added that at the time of the Bhagalpur riots "all that could be done was done after the riots took place."

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