Uf Not Averse To Cong Joining Govt: Bommai

The United Front (UF) will consider if the Congress is willing to join the front government at the Centre, senior Janata Dal leader and Union human resource development minister S R Bommai said yesterday.

Talking to reporters at the Raj Bhavan here, Bommai also renewed his appeal to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to join the government rather than support it from outside.

Asked about the Left parties' warning that they would back out if the Congress was allowed to take part in the government, he said that the parties had taken the stand when P V Narasimha Rao was heading the Congress. As Rao had been relieved of the Congress presidentship now, the Left parties could reconsider their stand, he added. For the effective functioning of the coalition government, all the constituents of the Front, and parties which extended support, should join the ministry and there should be noquestion of supporting the government from outside, he added.

Stating that the era of one-party rule was over, Bommai said that for the first time, a coalition government has come into existence following the mandate of the people.

Conceding that contradictory views among the constituent parties were bound to surface, as each party has its own policies and programmes, he said that the present government was at the experimental stage and stressed the need for forming a methodology for the smooth functioning of the government.

There should be collective thinking and collective wisdom, he added.

Replying to a question, Bommai said that the Left parties were not at all a headache to the Front government.

They are expressing their views most honestly and they should be taken in the right spirit, he said.

Bommai favoured an amendment to Article 356 of the Constitution which empowered the Union government to dismiss a state government. The power should be limited for the purpose of protecting the sovereignty and integrity of the country, he added.