Vajpayee says he was joking

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday retracted from the statement he made yesterday to the effect that he was stepping down from his position as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) top leader, describing that as a remark made in humour.

In his 45-minute speech at the party national executive conclave yesterday, Vajpayee was back in his element. He said he would aggressively take charge and assume responsibility for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Briefing the media after the meeting, BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu said: "It was Vajpayee's love for the Marathi language that put him in the embarrassing position yesterday. To rectify this, he will tour Maharashtra in the run-up to the Assembly elections."

"Vajpayee said what he had stated (about giving up his post) yesterday was said in humour. He emphasised that he was the Prime Minister for the past six years and he could not ignore his responsibilities," said a senior BJP leader.

The former Prime Minister also said his conscience had indicated that the 14th Lok Sabha results would not see the BJP doing quite as well, a fact that he had shared with LK Advani in Lucknow. "The BJP will not be able to impress upon the poor people its achievements in bringing about the telecom revolution, but needed to focus on power, roads and water," Vajpayee said.

Referring to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) the former Prime Minister said the internal differences among the various coalition partners had already begun resurfacing while emphasising that there was and is no difference between Hindutva and Indianness.