BJP's anti-Sonia pitch shriller

MANDATE 2004

It was an eventful day as far as the Rashtriya Swabhiman Morcha, set up to prevent Italy-born Sonia Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister of India, was concerned.

Even as Gandhi went to meet President A P J Abdul Kalam on Tuesday morning to discuss the details of government formation, former BJP ideologue K N Govindacharya and former minister Sushma Swaraj also met the President to express their protest.

It didn't just stop there. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati has submitted her resignation from the CM's post to party president Venkaiah Naidu.

"I will be faxing the letter (of resignation) to the governor from Kedarnath where I will retire if Sonia Gandhi becomes Prime Minister," she warned.

Swaraj said that her talk with the President was just to intimate him of her strong feelings against a foreigner holding the post of Prime Minister. "I wanted the President to know the strength of feelings against Gandhi holding office as Prime Minister," she said.

While remaining mum on the President's response, she said that he had heard her out patiently. "I cannot say what he thinks, he heard me out, and as a constitutional head, he has to decide," she said.

She reiterated her resolve to tonsure her head, wear a white saree, and sleep on the floor in the event that Gandhi takes over as Prime Minister.

Govindacharya, on the other hand, went accompanied by lawyers Amitabh Sinha and Meenakshi Lele as well as Virendra Singh of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Ramakant Pandey of the All India Sampoorna Kranti Dal. Various constitutional points were put across to Kalam at the meeting.

"For us, anyone is acceptable, but the person has to be an Indian," Govindacharya said. Examples like Peruvian president, the Japan-born Alberto Fujimori, were put forward to Kalam. Fujimori absconded to Japan after ruling Peru for 10 years and is accused of several crimes, for which he cannot be brought to book as he still retains his Japanese citizenship.

"The leader of the nation has also got civilisational responsibilities, a foreign-born person will never understand that," he said.

According Amitabh Sinha, the President gave the group a patient hearing and promised to look into the points put forward by the delegation.

As news of Sonia declining the PM's post started making the rounds, Govindacharya was quick to react. "Any India is acceptable to us," he said.