BARKOTA (Sonepat), Haryana: Mr. Chander ‘Shekhar, President of Janata Party gave a call to all the opposition parties to come under the banner of his party to defeat the forces of disintegration and destabilization in the country, Addressing an impressive gathering in this village, Chander Shekhar said that Janata Party stood for principled politics, The Party’s fight was not against any individual but it wanted to unite all opposition parties in the ‘country to correct the priorities for the planning. The Janata Party’s programme was to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, provide employment and strengthen the forces working to stop the disintegration of the country, The need of the hour was to give a Collective fight to Congress (I) in the coming elections in May and to check further drift in the policy planning of the party.

He said country’s security was not safe in the hands of Rajiv Gandhi. The Prime Minister has signed secret agreements with Lal Denga in Mizoram and late Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. The parliament, press or the public did not know about these agreements.

This was in black print. The Prime Minister’s statement regarding MacMohan has further strained the relations between China and India.

Mr. Chander Shekhar denied that he ever pleaded that Centre should hold talks with A.IS.S.F. or Damdami Taksal for a solution to the Punjab problem. He clarified that he stood for negotiated settlement and at the same time he held both the Prime Minister and Sujit Singh Barnala responsible for each killing that took place it Punjab. He alleged that “terrorism” was the creation of Congress (I). He criticized Mr. Gandhi for his package aid programme announced in various states. He main trained that these are golden dreams and illusions for the people till the coming elections. He feared that new temptations will follow after the Assembly elections.

Chander Shekhar charged the Centre for getting loans for Rs. 7000 crores during the past five years from abroad. “This money”, he said “has been spent in creating centers of recreation and enjoyment.”

Article extracted from this publication >> December 26, 1986