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Shekhar to oppose Sonia's candidature

Former prime minister and Samajwadi Janata Party president Chandra Shekhar today said he would oppose the candidature of Congress president Sonia Gandhi as the prime minister unless she made known her government's programme.

Addressing a press conference this morning at his residence, Shekhar said the Congress party wanted to come back to power and unfortunately the leaders of the party 'depended' only on the decision of a single person. He said even the Congress Working Committee had authorised Gandhi to take all decisions.

He said the way the Congress party was behaving, it would endanger democracy. He, however, said he was not against anyone but added that democratic values must be preserved.

The former prime minister said that unfortunately opposition leaders were searching for a substitute to the Vajpayee government and not a viable alternative.

Shekhar said a viable alternative government could be formed on the basis of a set of programmes. He said in the present political scenario he did not rule out the possibility of a mid-term poll but added that it would change the present political scenario of the country.

Taking strong exception to the decision of President K R Narayanan asking Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to take a vote of confidence when the Lok Sabha was already in session, Shekhar said the present political and constitutional crisis was mainly due to the decision of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He said the President was unpredictable and one would not know what was in his mind. He said the President should have first asked the Vajpayee government to pass the Finance Bill and later take a vote of confidence.

In reply to a question, the former prime minister said formation of the national government was a good idea but it did not seem feasible. He said in the present situation all parties should try to evolve a consensus and work in a cohesive manner, he said in the present confused situation he did not visualise the installation of an alternative government immediately.

Shekhar said he had voted against the Vajpayee government because of its unimpressive and lackluster performance in the last 13 months.

To another question, Shekhar said his support to the next alternative government would be based on the personality involved and the intention of the party or parties that formed the government. He said the present crisis was deliberately done and added that it would be more painful if it was done unknowingly.

The former prime minister apprehended that there could be intervention of a foreign interference if the present chaotic situation continued further.

Criticising the Lahore Yatra by the prime minister, he said it gave an opportunity to Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue which had never happened in the past five decades.

UNI

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