Vajpayee rules out differences with Kalyan

Lucknow, Apr 25 (UNI) Former prime minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee tonight sought to dispel rumours of his differences with senior UP leader Kalyan Singh asking the electorate to vote for the state leader's chief ministership in the state.

''The ongoing UP election had been witnessing a phenonmenon that the people of the state were now more inclined towards their basic problems and the BJP had answer to this,'' Mr Vajapyee said during his first and probably the last election meeting during the UP polls here tonight.

Reminding the gathering that the May 11, the date of announcements of the UP elections results coincide with the day of Pokharan nuclear test by the then NDA government, Mr Vajpayee hoped that the day would bring same searing results in the favour of BJP.

He said the people were definitely looking forward to a welcome change in the state and said the BJP was poised well to live upto their expectation.

The speech of senior BJP leader, who has been away from the poll buzz owing to bad health, certainly lacked in rhetoric and he even avoided taking name of any party or leader during his short 15-minute address. He, however, appealed to the voters to come out in large numbers on the voting day despite the scorching heat.

Mr Vajpayee, MP from Lucknow parliamentary constituency, did sound nostalgic about his association with the city giving out enough indications of not contesting the next Lok Sabha election.

He, in fact, expressed concern over the lack of cleanliness of the Gomati river in the state capital but hastened to add, ''It does not mean I wish to contest from here but I would be involved in the improvement of Gomti.'' Mr Vajpayee started his speech with a note of anguish over the reports of his not campaigning was due to the strained relations with Kalyan Singh.

More UNI