Agnivesh to contest against Vajpayee

Swami Agnivesh on Tuesday said he would contest the Lok Sabha election from Lucknow against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He said liberal credentials of Vajpayee had taken a knock after Gujarat riots. "My main objective is that Vajpayee should be defeated," he said.

Agnivesh said he was trying to garner support from opposition parties for his candidature.

"I recently met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and I have got a positive response," he said, adding he was making efforts to contact Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party leaders.

"If I feel there is someone who is more likely to defeat Vajpayee, I will withdraw my candidature and even campaign for him or her," he added.

Agnivesh said he would reach Lucknow on Wednesday to gauge the people's mood. He said he had considered Vajpayee a 'liberal', but his 'real face' came to light after the Gujarat pogrom, as he 'did not condemn the violence'.

Asked about BJP raking up the issue of Gandhi's foreign origin, Agnivesh said, "As leader of the opposition, she is already a shadow prime minister and so there is no difficulty in her becoming the prime minister."

He said the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya was not an issue at all in a country plagued by poverty and unemployment.