NDA national agenda: no Ram temple,say allies

The National Democratic Alliance NDA will come out with its national agenda for governance NAG,in addition to the manifestos of the constituent parties there were no individual manifestos for the 2004 elections,over the next week. The first draft of the NAG is being discussed with the allies,and some,like the JDU,have suggested the omission of the Ram Temple from the document. We are committed to the 1999 NAG, JDU spokesperson K C Tyagi said. The document had no reference to Ayodhya.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi is believed to have spoken to JDUs acting convenor Sharad Yadav some time ago to discuss the issue. L K Advani has already said that he would prefer the resolution of the issue through dialogue process,court order and legislation,in that order. We feel its better if the issue is kept outside the NAG, said a top JDU leader. The JDU is learnt to have backed the BJP on effective measures to check the rise of terror,though there appears to be a debate on the efficacy of two models of growth the Gujarat Model and the Bihar Model.

With Advani stressing on good governance as a key election plank,the agenda will be replete with themes on infrastructure which the NDA will showcase as one of the achievements of the Atal Bihari Vajpyaee government.

The BJP will use the release of the document to showcase the index of alliance unity in the NDA with the presence of all top alliance leaders. Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi said,The agenda for governance will also have components of a common manifesto.