JD entry issue put off till EC word on symbol

Fernandes, who is also Samata Party president however, claimed that he and Lok Shakti chief Ramakrishna Hegde, represented their respective parties and not the `unified JD’ in the NDA meeting today.

Earlier, Karnataka BJP president B S Yediyurappa accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar met to convey that they favoured a pact with Lok Shakti for the coming Lok Sabha and stateAssembly polls. “We made our position clear. BJP and Lok Shakti should go together in the coming elections,” the two leaders told reporters.

Fernandes claimed that formalities of Samata and Lok Shakti’s merger with JD would be completed after elections. There is no stalemate in the matter, he said, adding that it will be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Bickering among alliance partners over admission of JD had not eroded NDA’s image, he added. Fernandes claimed that Trinamool Congress was a part of the NDA and party chief Mamata Banerjee was on record saying that her party will contest the forthcoming Lok sabha elections under the NDA banner.

Today’s meeting began with a two-minute silence to pay homage to the Kargil martyrs and then adopted three resolutions appreciating the valour and national spirit displayed by the armed forces and expressing its total commitment to the welfare of dependents of the martyrs.

The NDA also `appreciated and admired’ Vajpayee’s leadership inhandling the Kargil issue. “Vajpayee’s leadership brought victory to India on the battlefield as well as in the diplomatic field” the resolution said.