Lucknow, Apr 15: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
today filed his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections from Lucknow constituency.
Vajpayee, who filed his papers before the returning
officer shortly before noon, was accompanied by senior party
leaders Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and
Kalyan Singh.
Senior party leader from Uttar Pradesh Lalji Tandon, who
was in the eye of the storm following the stampede at his
birth day celebrations where free sarees were distributed,
leaving 22 women dead, was also present.
Vajpayee, who is seeking re-election from Lucknow for the fifth consecutive term, is pitted against his former ministerial colleague Ram Jethmalani and others in a
multi-cornered contest.
Vajpayee had successfully contested from Lucknow in 1991,
1996, 1998 and 1999.
The Prime Minister had yesterday asked Jethmalani to
reconsider his decision to contest against him.
Extending an olive branch to him, Vajpayee had
disapproved of the attacks apparently by his party colleagues
against Jethmalani, who has filed his nominations from
Lucknow.
In a statement, Vajpayee said he and Jethmalani had been
friends and colleagues for 40 years now and had broadly shared
political values and goals and were together in the fight for
democracy.
Though Congress has extended its support to Jethmalani,
the party has decided to field a dummy candidate Akilesh Das
in the wake yesterday`s development.
Just before the Prime Minister moved into the collectorate to file his papers, a `havan` was performed amid
shouts like `har har mahadev` and `bharat mata ki jai` as a
pandit applied tilak on his forehead.
Bureau Report
