New Delhi, Feb 19: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is understood to have assured a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation from Uttaranchal that he would look into the long-pending issue of withdrawing cases against erstwhile Uttarakhand activists. According to Uttaranchal BJP chief Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the Prime Minister extended the assurance to a state BJP delegation earlier in the day after giving them ''a patient hearing''. The delegation comprised, besides Mr Koshyari, Union Surface Transport Minister B C Khanduri and minister of state for science and technology Bachi Singh Rawat. Mr Koshyari later told mediapersons that of the more than 400 cases registered in 1994 against agitationists demanding formation of Uttarakhand, almost all had been withdrawn by the various governments that came to power in the Uttaranchal state carved out of Uttar Pradesh.


Mr Koshyari pointed out that these six cases could not be withdrawn by the state government since they involved the CBI, a central agency.

The state government could withdraw these only after the center accorded its approval in this regard, the state BJP chief observed.

The Prime Minister, Mr Koshyari said, today assured the state BJP delegation that he would look into the issue of according central clearance to the withdrawal-demand. Bureau Report