Surat: Senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader and Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has hinted that his party was not averse to taking support from other parties in the event of a fractured verdict as no one is considered untouchable in politics by it. However, he felt there may not be any such situation.

"I don't think there is such a need. We will cross the bridge when we go to it," Joshi said when asked whether the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would take the support of Samajwadi Party (SP) or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the event of a hung verdict after the polls.

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...
Political Parties in India

"I am neither ruling in nor ruling out the possibility (taking support from SP or BSP). In politics nobody is untouchable," Joshi told reporters during an election tour citing earlier instances of ties between political parties having different ideologies.

"Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are landlords while Communists talk of the landless. They are joining hands to fight BJP. Similarly, Samajwadi Party claims to be socialists. They have joined hands with capitalists," he said adding it was because of political expediency.

Joshi addressed a series of election meetings at Surendranagar, Vadodara and Surat during his two-day visit to the State.

Observing that SP and BSP could not form Government at the Centre and that the "game of these parties is to get a slightly large number of seats and bargain without realising what the country needed -- stability and strong Government."

People should understand this and provide a stable and strong Government at the Centre, he said.