Hegde blasts Gowda, Bommai

Hegde made light of the coming together of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav under a new front, and commented: 8220;They have been doing it for the last 20 years. The question is who would be number one8221;.

The Lok Shakti founder attributed disintegration of the Janata Dal and the United Front to the clash of egos8217; among the leaders of that party.

As for the rift between the BJP and the AIADMK, the Commerce Minister declined to comment while dismissing the AIADMK pulling out from the Government as hypothetical8217;.

Hegde stuck to his earlier stand on elections saying freshelections should be held for the Lok Sabha if it was inevitable.

People would prefer fresh elections rather than uncertainty, he said.Earlier, he revealed the Centre8217;s plans to strengthen its mission at Geneva in order to present its views effectively at the World Trade Organisation WTO.

Developing nations lacked expertise to handle negotiations at the WTO, he said inaugurating a chair on International Trade Law for which he handed over a cheque for Rs 10 lakh on behalf of his ministry.

The Union Government would appoint experts in various fields including law, science and technology, patents and other trade related matters. The experts would help the permanent delegation in the negotiations.

The Commerce Minister explained how India, with the aid of other South Asian countries was able to stall another round of negotiations at the WTO until the outcome of the implementations of the Uruguay round was discussed.