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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh asserted on Sunday that Ayodhya would not be an issue in the next assembly election in his state.
"My party will contest the forthcoming elections on the basis of the performance of our government and I am confident that we will form the government again. We enjoy public support," Singh told a press conference in Hyderabad.
He claimed that Ayodhya had never been a political issue for the Bharatiya Janata Party and was not going to be one now. "Ayodhya has always been a political issue for the political opponents of the BJP," he remarked. "It is a national and cultural issue for us."
Responding to a query on the issue of a notification to revalidate the criminal proceedings against three Union ministers -- Lal Kishenchand Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti -- in the Babri Masjid demolition case, Singh said, "I am examining the issue and seeking the opinion of legal experts. I will take a decision that is justified and legal."
Exuding confidence that the BJP would be able to secure a majority on its own in the election early next year, he, however, said the party would take its allies with it. "I know the kala [art] of forming and running a government," he remarked.
He asserted that there would be no alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. "There is absolutely no question," he said, pointing out how the BSP had betrayed the BJP the last time they had an alliance. After Mayawati had completed her six-month term as chief minister, she had withdrawn support to the BJP.
Rajnath Singh said former BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh is no longer a significant factor in Uttar Pradesh politics. Kalyan Singh, who was expelled from the party, now heads the Rashtriya Kranti Dal [National Revolution Party].
"The situation is that people do not know who are going to be our main political opponents in the polls. We may face the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in some constituencies, but the Congress is confined to only a few constituencies out of 403 in the state."
Singh said it was for the Election Commission to decide when to hold the polls. The present assembly's tenure ends on March 26, 2002. A public-interest petition on the issue is also pending in court, he pointed out.
Asked about the change of two chief ministers in the state by the BJP, he said the changes were not effected "so often". "There will be no change in the leadership in UP [now]," he added.
He noted that five assembly bye-elections had been held in the state after he had taken over, of which the BJP had won two while the Samajwadi Party, BSP and Lok Dal had got one each.
He said critics had claimed that he would be a 'two-month CM', but he had proved them wrong. Similarly, the BJP had proved those critics wrong who, after the last election, had predicted that its government would fall in just two years.
To a query, he said he welcomed the move of former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh to re-enter politics. "He is my elder brother. I have a lot of respect for him," he said.
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