New Delhi, May 13: Stunning electoral reversal notwithstanding, Atal Bihari Vajpayee will continue to be the leader of National Democratic Alliance which will sit in the opposition, NDA Convenor George Fernandes said today.
Emerging from the meeting of top NDA leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and BJP president Venkiah Naidu, he said "Vajpayee will continue to be the leader of the NDA and we will sit in the opposition.

"We will have nothing to do with the formation of a government," Fernandes said. Asked if he would own the moral responsibility for the debacle and quit as NDA Convenor, he said "no body has asked for my resignation and I have not offered. The NDA Convenor has a limited task and I have done my task. Should the NDA parties feel that I should be out of it, I shall quit."

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On whether Vajpayee would be the leader of the opposition, both Fernandes and BJP president Naidu said that the issue would be decided by the newly elected MPs. Replying to a query whether Vajpayee had taken the responsibility for the defeat, Naidu said "every body is taking the responsibility... We have called the meeting of parliamentary board tomorrow and we will review and assess the situation."

Asked if Vajpayee was dejected, Fernandes said "the Prime Minister is a veteran of many, many such battles. There is no way of he being dejected." Bureau Report