‘BJP doesn’t have any number 2, 3’

He also parried a comment on HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi’s comment that the leadership issue was open. A reporter asked him if there was a number three in the BJP. Naqvi said: ‘‘There is no numbering in BJP. There are no number two or three. If there is a number one, it is Vajpayee. All workers are alike. The NDA leadership has unanimously reposed its faith in the leadership of Vajpayee and only he will lead the government for five years.’’

When reporters pressed for a response to what Joshi had said, Naqvi said: ‘‘We have no view on Joshi’s remark. We don’t consider it any view. I am stating the party view. There is no confusion and there has been no discussion on the issue at any level within the party.’’

Defence Minister George Fernandes also brushed aside discussions on Vajpayee’s successor. ‘‘The NDA’s leader is Vajpayee and there is no reason to ponder over this issue right now,’’ Fernandes, also the NDA convenor, said after launching the NDA website.

Fernandes said that ‘‘never has NDA discussed this issue’’. He pointed out that a ‘‘contingency plan would have been deliberated upon had there been a crisis’’. He added with finality: ‘‘The question doesn’t arise.’’

When asked if in Vajpayee’s case the strain and stress of electioneering was all too evident, Fernandes disagreed. ‘‘At his age, he is doing a fine job.’’