Wary BJP cautions allies

Cautioning the allies, BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu said that they were not only casting aspersions on the Government of which they were a part but also sullying their image in the eyes of the people. “It’s their own credibility which is affected in the long run,” he said. Soon after the Staines murders, the allies of the BJP joined the national condemnation. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee wanted Home Minister L K Advani’s resignation while the TDP,which supports the ruling coalition from outside, said that the Government had “lost the moral right to rule the country.”And the Lok Shakti, which is an important ally of the Government, described the incidents of attacks on minorities as “a national shame.” Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde even went to the extent of saying that he would have to rethink his decision to continue if the attacks continued.

At the Lok Shakti’s plenary conference which is being held for three days beginning February 14, among those invited by Hegde for the meeting of the pressure group are George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar (both Samata) and representatives of the Biju Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress and Loktantrik Congress.

Interestingly, the Lok Shakti has also invited the Telugu Desam Party which is beginning to distance itself from the BJP and Suresh Kalmadi of the Pune Vikas Aghadi. Two meetings of this group mostly comprising leaders who are more comfortable with Vajpayee than Advani have already been heldat Nitish Kumar’s residence in the Capital.