Vajpayee says ‘no’

NEW DELHI, Nov 30, 1998. — Assured of the support of the allies to the BJP-led coalition government, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today rejected the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of his government in the wake of the BJP’s defeat in the recently held assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.L. Khurana told mediapersons that partners in the BJP-led alliance had reiterated support at a meeting of the allies which was convened by the Prime Minister. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the AIADMK. The Minister of Law and Justice, Mr Thambi Durai, had met Mr Vajpayee twice since yesterday, he said.

Mr Khurana said the Prime Minister while rejecting the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of his government pointed out that there was no such precedent when a ruling party at the Centre had resigned because of poor performance in assembly elections.

In 1993 when the Congress was in power at the Centre, the party had lost assembly elections in several states, including Delhi and Rajasthan, but the minority government had continued, Mr Vajpayee argued.

Accepting the election results, the Prime Minister said the party should introspect to determine reasons for its defeat. "We should not feel disappointed but try to take corrective measures", he said adding that the party had won all six Lok Sabha byelections in the past eight months. This indicated that the people had not rejected the Central Government policies and programmes, he asserted.

The Prime Minister gave a detailed account of the initiatives taken by the government to control prices. A long-term plan was to set a chain of cold storages for preservation of perishable commodities. Both private and public sectors would be involved in this effort.

Mr Vajpayee said farmers should get remunerative prices even in case of a good crop. At the same time, it should be ensured that commodities were made available to consumers at reasonable prices even if crops failed due to natural calamities.

The Prime Minister said the Centre would come down heavily on hoarders. The Centre, he said, would bring a Bill to strengthen the Essential Commodities Act during this session. Meanwhile, the states could initiate action against hoarders under various existing laws.