President standing by embattled Indian P.M.

Press, 28 August 1979, Page 9

President standing by embattled Indian P.M.

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi The Indian President (Mr Sanjiva Reddy) yesterday made it clear he would not yield to pressure from Opposition parties to dismiss the Prime Minister (Mr Charan Singh) and his caretaker Government. Mr Singh, who was appointed last month, resigned on August 20 rather than face defeat in a confidence vote, and the Janata Party and the Congress (I) Party of the former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, have called for his dismissal. The Janata Party also wants Mr Reddy to be impeached for dissolving the Lower House of Parliament and ordering a mid-term poll, only one hour after Janata leaders say he told them he was in no hurry to take a decision. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Jagjivan Ram) said later that he was under the impression he was being given time to submit a list of his supporters and prove he could form a new Government. But Mr Reddy wrote to him at the week-end saying this was not a correct record-

of their conversation—“as you yourself are aware.” The terse, one-paragraph letter by the President was seen as an indication that he would not be swayed by the Opposition clamour against him. Another pointer to his intention to stand firm was his earlier decision, on the advice of Mr Singh, to allot portfolios to two Ministers after Opposition parties had demanded that the Government should be dismissed . Mr Singh’s government will continue in office with limited powers and will not commit the country beyond the November - December elections. The Justice Minister (Mr Sham Nath Kacker) told the Press Trust of India news i agency: “It is true that for the next four months the present Government is not going to take any long-term policy decision. Nor is it going to incur any long-term financial commitment.” But Mr Kacker, who dismissed Opposition calls for the impeachment of President . Reddy and the dismissal of the Government as cries of despair, added: “Other nor-

mal functions of the Government, including sending out delegations to important places, must go on.” Mr Kacker was referring to a Janata demand that the External Affairs Minister (Mr Shyam Nandan Mishra) should not go to the NonAligned Movement’s summit meeting next month in Havana and that India should be represented instead by an all-party delegation. Janata leaders have said Mr Singh’s ministers should not be allowed to represent India abroad, but the Information Minister (Mr Purushotham Kaushik) left at the week-end to lead the Indian delegation to the Moscow film festival. He will be followed to Moscow in a few days by a military delegation led by Air Marshal Idris Hasan Latif, chief-of-staff of the Indian Air Force. The “Patriot” newspaper, daily organ of the pro-Soviet Communist Party, said yesterday that India, having acquired the Anglo-French Jaguar aircraft, was interested in purchasing the Soviet MIG 23 and MiG25 Foxbat.