Do not invite BJP, Laloo, Mulayam tell President
The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal today urged President K R Narayanan not to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government at the Centre, claiming that the United Front and the Congress combination had the 'mandate' to
provide a 'stable and secular government'.
Seeking some time for forming a government, SP supremo
Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav said the BJP did not have the majority support in the Lok Sabha.
Both the leaders told the President that there were no differences between the UF and the Congress over the prime ministerial post, but require time to 'frame their coalition' in the wake of leadership change in the Congress.
They had separate meetings with the President who had invited them to ascertain their views on the formation of the next government.
''If the Congress does not want to form the government, the UF should stake a claim. We will back them,'' Laloo Yadav said.
He said his ''heart is open both for the UF and the Congress''.
He said the BJP cannot provide a stable government due to
''gross contradictions among the BJP and its allies''.
Tamil Maanila Congress president G K Moopanar, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader Murasoli Maran and former prime minister Chandra Shekhar also had meetings with the President.
While Chandra Shekhar evaded the media after his 30-minute meeting with the President, Moopanar said the UF had to discuss its strategy about forming a new government.
Narayanan held a series of meetings with Congress and UF leaders on Friday, following BJP prime ministerial candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee's inability to produce the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham support letter on Thursday (the letter was submitted on Saturday).
At their meeting with the President yesterday, the Congress and UF leaders sought time to explore the possibility of an alternate government.
''We need time to hold consultations with friendly parties since
the UF was under the impression till Thursday night that the BJP will form the government,'' Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet told the media after a 30-minute meeting with Narayanan.
Surjeet said the Congress, ''as a major party, should decide its course of action and get back to us''.
Replying to a question, he ruled out the possibility of the combine getting in touch with the Congress.
He said neither the UF nor the Congress had staked claim to form a government and had not come in the way of BJP's plans to form the government.
Asked what his stand was on supporting a Congress-led government, Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan said, ''The stand is to have a government.''
Narayanan also held consultations with United Front
chairman H D Deve Gowda and former prime minister V P Singh.
The Congress delegation, led by its president Sitaram Kesri, also
sought time, saying that they have to elect their parliamentary party leader, on Monday.
Several Congress leaders, including Sharad Pawar and Madhavrao Scindia, called on Sonia Gandhi immediately after their meeting with the President to formulate the party's strategy.
UNI
Elections '98
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