Congress aided Pak design by pulling down govt 8212; Vajpayee

PARLI/AURANGABAD, AUG 28: Prime Minister A B Vajpayee today addressed his first election rally in Maharashtra, drawing a crowd of over on...

PARLI/AURANGABAD, AUG 28: Prime Minister A B Vajpayee today addressed his first election rally in Maharashtra, drawing a crowd of over one lakh in this nondescript Marathwada town which is the home borough of CM-in-waiting Gopinath Munde. And though he stressed he was not interested in exploiting Kargil for electoral mileage, it was the tone of a victor speaking after a hard-earned victory.

Kargil, he said, was entirely due to the destablisation of the BJP-led government by the Congress party. 8220;When they saw our government stable and gaining in popularity, they discarded their mask of constructive support and began hatching conspiracies to destablise the government,8221; he said.

8220;Pakistan saw this as an exciting opportunity and attacked in an area where there had been no war in 32 years8221;.

As soon as his government got to know of the intrusion, they dislodged the invaders sitting on the heights before hoisting the Tricolour on Kargil.

8220;We believe in the motto of Shivaji: not sacrifice alone, butvictory8221;.

In a veiled reference to Sharad Pawar, he termed as laughable allegations that his government was asleep when the intrusions took place. But he also reserved a word of praise for the opposition parties for the support they extended to the government during the Kargil crisis.

Earlier, a roar erupted amidst the assembled crowd of nearly a lakh when the three Mi-17s of the IAF8217;s VIP Squadron cluttered into view, speakers blared out election jingles set to the tune of popular Hindi film songs8230; 8220;BJP ki jai bol, Atal ki jai bol,8221; as the three copters landed in perfect sync behind each other, whipping up dust eddies in the Vaijnath College ground. People began assembling here from all over rural Marathwada from early this morning to catch a glimpse of Vajpayee in his whistle-stop election tour of Maharashtra. He drew applause for speaking the first few lines of his speech in chaste Marathi.

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Later, speaking to mediapersons at Aurangabad airport, Vajpayee said now that the Congress hasfallen in line with the BJP8217;s concept that this is an era of coalition governments, the next thing Sonia Gandhi needs to clarify is her party8217;s stand on the use of Article 356 of the Constitution, said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Saturday.

Vajpayee said in most of the cases when the President8217;s Rule has been imposed on a State there was a Congress Government at the Centre. The President8217;s Rule has been imposed 110 times on various States. 8220;The Congress8217;s manifesto is silent on the issue and this has raised doubts in many minds,8221; Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister sought to disassociate his party from criminal Dara Singh, who is alleged to have recently killed a Muslim businessman in Orissa and is the prime accused in the murder of Australian missionary Staines and his two sons. 8220;When a person already accused of murder, is still at large and commits yet another murder, it only points out the failure of the Congress Government in Orissa,8221; Vajpayee said.