BJP open to help from others: Joshi

MANDATE 2004/ 'No one is considered untouchable in politics'

For the first time during this election, even before the first phase of polling has begun, a top leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conceded that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might need to take the help of others to form a government at the Centre.

This is the first admission by the BJP that the election is not going as well for it as it should. All along, BJP chief president M Venkaiah Naidu has asserted that the BJP will win 300 seats in the next Lok Sabha.

Senior BJP leader and Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi hinted in Surat that his party would not be averse to taking support from other parties in the event of a fractured Lok Sabha verdict as no one was considered untouchable in politics by it.

"I do not think there is such a need. We will cross the bridge when we come to it," Joshi said when asked whether the NDA would take the support of the Samajwadi Party (SP) or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the event of a hung Lok Sabha.

"I am neither ruling in nor ruling out the possibility (taking support from the SP or the BSP). In politics nobody is untouchable," Joshi said during an election tour citing earlier instances of ties between political parties having different ideologies.

"Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are landlords while the Communists talk of the landless. They are joining hands to fight the BJP. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party claims to be socialist. They have joined hands with capitalists," he said adding it was because of political expediency.

Joshi addressed a series of meetings at Surendranagar, Vadodara and Surat during his two-day Gujarat visit.

A few days ago, during his campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani had warned the nation of the dangers of letting the so-called third front play a role in forming the government. Today, Joshi admitted that third front parties could become a crucial element in helping the NDA form a government.

Observing that the SP and the BSP alone would not be able to form government at the Centre and that the "game of these parties is to get a slightly large number of seats and bargain without realising what the country needed""stability and strong government." Joshi said the people should understand this and provide a stable and strong government at the Centre.

Asked whether the Kalyan Singh factor would help the party in UP, Joshi said Singh's return had helped the party in "quite a few seats". Emphasising the need for sincere efforts to bring about a desired result in the Ram temple issue, Joshi said, "if political parties do not create hurdles because of vote bank politics, the issue can be settled amicably".

Observing that the general mood of the people was to see that the issue was settled, he said he had met a large number of Muslims who were also of the opinion that the issue should be resolved as quickly as possible.

Joshi said a solution arrived at after a consensus would have a lasting effect rather than a judicial verdict which could be questioned. He insisted that the Ayodhya issue had been incorporated in the NDA agenda after consensus among allies.