BJP asks JD-U not to run down Modi

M-Venkaiah-NaiduHyderabad, June 13 : Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu Thursday asked Janata Dal-United leaders not to make derogatory remarks against his party colleague and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

He said the derogatory and uncharitable remarks against Modi would not help the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) or the country. "You will only be making our opponents happy. Please follow the coalition dharma," he said while addressing a news conference here.

"There are local problems. It will be sorted out," he said when asked about JD-U leaders' statements that they may pull out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and join the proposed Federal Front.

"We are keen to see all our allies together. We want strong alternative to the Congress party. We have been working in Bihar and that experiment proved to be successful," he said but refused to comment further saying the BJP had the tradition of not commenting on internal affairs of other parties.

Claiming that the BJP-led NDA was the only alternative to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the centre, Naidu said the mood in the country is that this government should go "sooner the better".

"People will not excuse any party trying to weaken this resolve or protect this government which has failed on all fronts," he remarked.

The senior BJP leader said the so-called talks of Third Front or Federal Front were all tried and failed experiments. "The parties which supported the Congress and are now supporting it can never become an alternative," he said.

He alleged that the Congress was rattled by the announcement of Modi as head of the campaign committee of the BJP. He said the party was in utter despair and wanted to divert people's attention from its failure on all fronts.

"Their hope of divisions in the BJP has no basis and by so believing they are living in a fool's paradise. We are capable of sorting out issues among ourselves and we are a strong democratic party," he said.

He did not agree that senior party leader L. K. Advani's resignation from party posts, which he withdrew later, had dented the BJP's image, saying one day's incident can't dent the image built over the years.

Naidu said the BJP had given a call for nation-wide 'jail bharo' June 17-30 to protest against the "inefficient" and "corrupt" government and to demand its removal.(IANS)