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Journalism of Courage
The BJP declared today that it had not chosen a successor to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in the party. Faced with a volley of questions, party general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated: 8216;8216;The successor to Vajpayeeji is Vajpayeeji himself for the next five years.8217;8217;
When a reporter pointed at the PM8217;s successor remark and sought clarification, Naqvi said: 8216;8216;I am not commenting on what the Prime Minister has said. I am stating the party view.8217;8217;
When reporters pressed for a response to what Joshi had said, Naqvi said: 8216;8216;We have no view on Joshi8217;s remark. We don8217;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.8217;8217;
Defence Minister George Fernandes also brushed aside discussions on Vajpayee8217;s successor. 8216;8216;The NDA8217;s leader is Vajpayee and there is no reason to ponder over this issue right now,8217;8217; Fernandes, also the NDA convenor, said after launching the NDA website.
Fernandes said that 8216;8216;never has NDA discussed this issue8217;8217;. He pointed out that a 8216;8216;contingency plan would have been deliberated upon had there been a crisis8217;8217;. He added with finality: 8216;8216;The question doesn8217;t arise.8217;8217;
When asked if in Vajpayee8217;s case the strain and stress of electioneering was all too evident, Fernandes disagreed. 8216;8216;At his age, he is doing a fine job.8217;8217;
