NEW DELHI: Prime Minister designates Atal Behari Vajpayee announced. Last week that a Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya only after consultations and discussions with all concerned.

Addressing a press conference after being invited by the President to form the first BJP Government, the veteran leaders said that his party wanted a Solution to the issue only through discussions.

He also ruled out changes in the election schedule for Kashmir although the BJP has been opposing holding polls in the state till the situation normalizes in the Valley.

‘The veteran BJP leader was vague about taking action on the charges he had leveled against Narasimha Rao On the hawala issue, Pointing out that he had merely repeated the text of hawala accused S,K.Jain’s testimony to the CBI, Vajpayee said that he would check the progress that had been made in the investigations so far. As for the cases against various political luminaries, he said that the Supreme Court was “seized of the matter” and the CBI’s investigations were being monitored by the highest court in the land.

Vajpayee reiterated that he would not indulge in horse trading to get a majority for the confidence vote. “We will seek cooperation from the MPs,” he stressed.

He said that a common minimum program for a coalition government was in the process of being drafted and urged all political parties to accept ‘gracefully” the President’s decision to invite the BJP to form the next Government. “The BJP believes in the policy of cooperation, pot confrontation,” he emphasized. “Our manifesto says all, citizens will be treated alike. There) will be no discrimination on the basis: of religion, region, caste or class. To: say that democracy is being subverted by inviting the BJP to form a government is insulting to the people of India.” He said that the BJP had emerged as. The single largest party. It may not have got a clear mandate but the others had failed to cam the confidence of the people, “Let the verdict of the: people be accepted,” he appealed.

Asked whether his Government would make a nuclear bomb as promised by the BJP, Vajpayee said that his party believed in global disarmament and world peace. But if the rest of the world did not move towards these goals then his Government would take all necessary steps for India’s security.

Article extracted from this publication >>  May 22, 1996