BJ ready to ally with BJP: Uma

Bhopal, Dec 30 (UNI) Bharatiya Janashakti Founder-President and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti today denied that she was re-entering the BJP but added that the BJ was ready to ally on equal terms with the BJP.

''My party might contemplate involving itself in politics on the lines of the BJP-Shiv Sena combine,'' she said at a BJ workers' convention here.

While expressing faith in top BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, Ms Bharti also praised the practicality prevailing at the Congress apex.

''In Rajasthan and Delhi, the BJ intends to have an equal partnership with the BJP in assembly polls while my party will go it alone in this state. The recent Gujarat outcome cannot affect other states,'' she felt.

Claiming that the circumstances there were different from those in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Ms Bharti added that in the latter states, the chief issue would not be Hindutva but corruption, exploitation of tribals and the governments' erroneous policies.

''I am fighting a war of righteousness and not a personal struggle against any organisation but an ideological one. I was urged, through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to re-enter the BJP last month. It was proper to withdraw BJ candidates from Gujarat and my party took that decision to vanquish the Congress. Several dissenting workers were suspended,'' she claimed.

Praising Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi's personality, Ms Bharti however added that she would never allow Ms Gandhi to occupy the Prime Minister's post.

''Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination has enhanced the security threat in India. No political party, including the BJP and Congress, possess leadership capable of combating this challenge. Terrorism has seeped into both the government and army in Pakistan. India should take the initiative of destroying dens of militancy in that country,'' Ms Bharti felt.

Pointing out that there was a time when the public reposed faith in the BJP for security and protecting the nation's pride, she added that present lack of clarity in the saffron party's economic policies, lessening of a firm resolve vis-a-vis Hindutva and the capacity to persevere on the nationalism front disillusioned the masses.

UNI