'Vajpayee not ruffled by CD episode'

Varanasi, Apr 13 (UNI) BJP national vice-president Karuna Shukla, also the niece of party stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said the former Prime Minister is not at all ruffled by the communal CD controversy.

''He is not at all ruffled by the CD controversy. It is the media which is concocting stories in this regard,'' Ms Shukla, the BJP MP from Janjgir (Chhattisgarh), said here.

Ms Shukla is in the city to canvass support for party candidates in the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll.

''Interestingly before coming to Varanasi, I met Atalji in New Delhi and there were no signs of him being irritated with the CD controversy. I even requested him to troupe down to Uttar Pradesh to give his blessings to party candidates engaged in the electoral battle. He wished all party candidates all the best,'' Ms Shukla claimed.

''It is for the state leadership to tell whether Atalji will make it to the UP poll campaign for remaining phases or not,'' she said in reply to a query about the possibility of Mr Vajpayee making it to Uttar Pradesh for electoral campaign.

Launching a scathing attack against the ruling Samajwadi Party and BSP, Ms Shukla said only the BJP can provide corruption free governance in the State and ''can transform Uttar Pradesh into Uttam Pradesh.'' She also mocked actor Amitabh Bachchan for publicising Mulayam Singh Yadav's ruling state as ''Uttam Pradesh.'' ''It is not his fault...he is only reeling off sentences written by his friend and SP leader Amar Singh,'' she said.

UNI