Aligning with Jaya wasn't a mistake : Thakre
05 April 1999 21:41 IST The Bharatiya Janata Party has emphatically ruled out the possibility of the ruling coalition moving a confidence motion in the House while also claiming that aligning with the AIADMK was not a mistake on their part.
Addressing a press conference here before leaving for Delhi after the four-day session of national executive, party president Kushabhau Thakre said the opposition was free to try and defeat the government on the budget, if they wish to have a trial of strength.
"We have improved our majority during the vote on the proclamation on Bihar's President's rule and we would be glad to prove it once again, even if a no-confidence motion is moved by the opposition", he reiterated.
When asked whether he would prefer the coalition running a minority government in the Parliament when his party has always been critical of running such minority governments in the past, Thakre said he would prefer to wait and see, avoiding a direct reply.
He however made it clear that his party would never resort to the corrupt practices followed by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, heading the Congress government. "He had bribed the MPs", he recalled.
While claiming that his party is prepared for general polls at any moment, he also clarified that the mid-term polls are not in the interest of the general public as it adds to the financial burden while creating an atmosphere of instability in the country.
Though Jayalalitha has created problems in the coalition throughout the year-long rule of the coalition, Thakre however still hesitates to call it a mistake on their part to have an election alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. "It was a compulsion", he says.
Inspite of the bitter experience of having last-minute alliance with other parties, Thakre still supports the strategy of not deciding about any alliance much in advance. The same strategy would be followed even in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Goa, Karnataka, AP and Sikkim, he clarifies.
"We would try and strengthen our base till the last minute. The possibility of aligning with the others to defeat the common enemy would be worked out only at the last minute, based on response from those parties", he says.
