Gujral, Kesri To Meet Once Every Month: Naidu

Prime Minister I K Gujral and the AICC president Sitaram Kesari will meet at least once every month and sort out any difference that may crop up in the functioning of the government.

This, according to the United Front Convenor, N Chandrababu Naidu, will be the mechanism worked out to ensure stability to the new government and avoid misunderstanding between it and the Congress as had happened last time.

Naidu told mediapersons on Monday night that any differences in the implementation of the common minimum programme of the UF or the policy philosophy of any constituents that may go contrary to the Congress perceptions may also be discussed and sorted out at such one-to-one meetings.

Apart from this mechanism, a parliamentary coordination committee of five members from the Congress and five from the United Front with the Prime Minister as the chairman will be set up. This committee will deal with all matters pertaining to issues cropping up in Parliament. Only members of Parliament from the two parties will be on the coordination committee. Naidu made it clear that there was no question of the Congress joining the UF government even at a later stage. This has been made very clear to Sitaram Kesari during the discussions he ( Naidu) had held with him.

He admitted that most of the constituents of the UF captured power in the states on an anti-Congress plank. This was the case in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Kerala, etc.

In Andhra Pradesh, the TDP Chief said, the anti-Congress stance will remain. We will continue to fight the Congress and there can be no compromise on that, he said.

Naidu claimed that during the 10 months of the UF Government at the Centre, several bold initiatives were taken some of them not even attempted in the past four decades. He was confident the experience of Gujral in the arena of international relations will be of great advantage when trying to synchronise the Indian economy with the rapidly changing world.