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Vajpayee launches rashtra raksha rally by evoking JP

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

In a surprise volte face Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave the entire credit for the bus trip to Lahore to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharief, who, according to the prime minister, invited him in the first place and even offered to accompany him back to India.

"I don't go to any place uninvited. I would not even go to bhagwan without invitation," Vajpayee said amid applause.

Addressing the rashtra raksha rally here, he questioned the claim of Pakistan that Kashmir should be handed over to it as the state is Muslim-dominated. "What does Pakistan intend to say? India has more Muslims than Pakistan," Vajpayee said, pausing for the audience to draw the obvious inference.

He hinted that India may be compelled to adopt a hard stand while dealing with Pakistan in any peace negotiation in the future. "The other day I met the mother of a soldier who was killed in Kargil. She was all praise for the sacrifice her son had made for the motherland. But then she remarked: 'Mind you, do not return the land captured by our brave soldiers,' " Vajpayee said.

The choice of date and place for the rashtra raksha rally was symbolic. On arriving at the Patna airport Vajpayee drove to the house of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan and garlanded his statue. He promised to make his house a national monument.

It was 24 years ago on June 25, 1975 that Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency after being politically cornered by the JP-movement.

In another programme the prime minister also distributed Kisan Credit Cards to 50 farmers.

Vajpayee deliberately avoided hitting out at the Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders. The efficient way the Rabri Devi government handled compensation and other relief measures to the families of those army personnel from Bihar who fell fighting in Kargil has endeared it to the populace at large.

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