PATNA: Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Tuesday categorically denied having held any talks with any Punjab militant. PTI reports.
“It is only the figment of imagination of the Congress (I) and Communist Party leaders and I have no answer to them” he said at a press conference here.
“The militants do not have any spokesman as such and I have not talked to any of their representatives either” he said and added that he would welcome talking to leaders of various parties on the Punjab problem to solve the imbroglio in the country’s interest.
The prime minister said that whatever talks he had held on the Punjab problem were exploratory in nature and he could not come to any conclusion.
“If I take any decision I will do so taking people into confidence” he said and added that he did not think it necessary to divulge the details of his efforts to all and sundry.
Referring to the decision of certain parties to boycott the Punjab polls Chandra Shekhar said that it was a very unfortunate decision “I request everyone to participate in the elections and allow the polls to be conducted peacefully” he said.
With just about four days to go for the deadline for filing of nominations the poll scene in Punjab currently under president’s rule is far from clear
First the question mark whether or not elections would be held in the state along with the rest of the country and then the president returning union cabinet’s recommendation for holding poll in the state for re-consideration created utmost confusion among political parties as well as among voters.
The election commission first announced the poll schedule for Punjab and then made an unprecedented change. Leaving the remaining schedule the same it cancelled the polling date of May 20 and said a fresh date would be announced later thus leaving an air of uncertainty.
The Akali Dal led by Mann and AISSF (Manjit) backed by some militant outfits have announced their decision to contest the poll both for the 13 Lok Sabha seats and 117 Assembly seats.
They have also announced their respective boards for receiving and finalizing the list of candidates. Some other militant organisations are yet to announce their decision.
The prime minister said that elections in Punjab and Assam a would be held after some time due to security reasons.
Asked if his party would again form a government at the center with the support of the Congress I he said. We shall see it later on. I do not have any enmity with the Congress. There are no friends of foes in politics.”
He told a questioner that so far none of the Jan Morcha leaders who severed ties with the Janata Dal Monday had approached his party to join it.
When his attention was drawn to the apprehension of poll linked violence in Bihar Chandra Shekhar said bullets should not be used to grab ballots.
The prime minister said that it was encouraging to note that perhaps for the first time the intelligence machinery was not being misused by the ruling party.
The Cong (I) BJP CPI and CPIM have threatened to boycott the polls in Punjab if the election schedule is not revised. However they are yet to take a final decision pending the announcement of final date of polling PTI adds. Sources close to these parties have indicated the possibility of their joining hands against militants in the poll fray. The matter is likely to be decided by the party high commands of these parties soon.
However none of the parties has been able to finalize the lists of their candidates so far because of the prevailing confusion.
Eyen in the Akali party there appears to be dissensions. The Akali Dal’s led by Parkash Singh Badal and Surjit Singh Barnala former chief ministers who merged with the party headed by Simranjit Singh Mann are virtually back to square one.
The leaders of these two factions including the former S G P C president GS Tohra were sore as none of them has been taken in the party working committee or the parliamentary board announced by Mann recently. None of them has been attending any meeting of the party called by Mann.
Both Badal and Barnala are under pressure from their supporters to announce their candidates for the forthcoming poll. In the 1989 Lok Sabha election the Dal (Mann) which was supported by most of the militant groups had won six of the 13 seats with Mann himself polling 89.16% of votes in the Tarn Taran parliamentary constituency.
The Cong (I) had bagged two JD one and independents three (with the support of the Akali Dal) In the event of the Akali voles getting divided between the Akali Dal and the AISSF the position could be somewhat different. But the most relevant factor this time would be the strategy.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 26, 1991
