PM to address rallies

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25. In a bid to refurbish the post-tehelka image of the Prime Minister and the National Democratic Alliance, a decision was taken today at a meeting of the NDA that a number of rallies will be held in State capitals and other major centres to counter the ``false propaganda'' and the ``disinformation campaign'' launched by the opposition.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will address major rallies at Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow and Bangalore. Nearly 50 other leaders drawn from the BJP and the NDA will participate in a number of rallies throughout the country from May 1 to 16, that is, before Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session. The details will be announced tomorrow, the Union Minister, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, said here today.

The decisions were taken here today at a meeting of the NDA held at the Prime Minister's residence immediately after the rally at the Ramlila grounds ended. Significantly, no DMK leader was present at the rally nor at the NDA meeting, but the explanation was that all of them were busy with the poll process in the State and that MDMK leader, Mr. Vaiko, ``represented the whole of the DMK-led front from Tamil Nadu.''

All the Chief Ministers who were present at the rally also attended the meeting, except Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, who had some other engagement.

Apart from image building, the move also aims at consolidating the NDA in which cracks have appeared - the PMK left to join the AIADMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu before the tehelka expose and the Trinamool Congress cut its links with the NDA as a direct result of the scandal.

Apparently, although the BJP had earlier decided to hold nation- wide rallies, it was felt it would be better to make it a joint effort of the NDA.

It was made clear that Mr. George Fernandes, who had to resign as Defence Minister following tehelka, would be one of the stars at the four rallies to be addressed by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Fernandes' presence is apparently meant to convey his innocence in the entire affair even though the judicial inquiry is still to get going, some departmental action is expected against officials of the Defence Ministry over which he presided, and the Army is holding its own inquiry into the alleged corrupt misdeeds of Army officers. Mr. Fernandes described the rally exercise as an effort to ``take the truth to the people.''

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