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Loktantrik MP says BJP's hidden agenda is extant

The Loktantrik Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party's partner in the Uttar Pradesh government, has said the 'Vande Mataram' issue is proof that the hidden agenda of the BJP still exists.

Party MP Akhtar Hasan Rizvi said in a press conference in Lucknow that after state basic education minister Ravindra Shukla was dismissed on the charges of marking recitation of 'Vande Mataram' compulsory in government schools, the BJP leaders were issuing contradictory statements in this regard.

He said leaders of the breakaway Congress groups were planning to meet at the residence of former Union minister Suresh Kalmadi next Thursday, at which leaders of Tamil Maanila Congress, Rajiv Congress, Trinamul Congress and Loktantrik Congress would participate, he said.

However, he denied any possibility of his party merging with the Congress.

Party general secretary Siraj Mehndi said the minority convention of the Loktantrik Congress would be held in Lucknow on January 31, and that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had agreed to participate in it.

He said ways for redressal of problems faced by the minorities would be discussed in this convention.

UNI

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