…as Atal pitches for unity in NDA

On A day when key NDA ally JD (U) threatened to snap ties with NDA if it returns to Hindutva fold, former PM A.B. Vajpayee today stressed the need to keep the Opposition alliance intact even as the RSS asked the party to remain firm on its ideology.

During the brainstorming session on the second day, Vajpayee said all efforts should be made to keep the NDA united as the party endeavours to grow further, sources said. Vajpayee, who is chairman of the NDA parliamentary group, did not specifically refer to any ally or the threat made by JD (U) at its national executive meet in Delhi yesterday.

In his seven-minute-long intervention, Vajpayee expressed concern over the functioning of the UPA Government which, he said, was ‘‘buckling under pressure of Communists”.

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RSS joint general secretary in-charge of BJP Madan Das Devi categorically told BJP leaders that the Sangh expected the party to remain firm on Hindutva and propagate its ideology confidently. Devi said the party should not deviate from Hindutva.

Meanwhile, in Nagpur, VHP president Ashok Singhal ruled out floating a political outfit or entering into electoral politics.