Bangalore: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Sep 8, 2004) said the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) was ready to join hands with the Congress on barring "tainted persons" and criminals from entering the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.

"There should be a provision to shut the door on tainted and criminals from entering Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha. We are ready to take steps but the Congress should also extend its hand," Vajpayee told a "Vijayotsav" rally in Bangalore this evening to celebrate the discharge of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti in a 10-year old criminal case.

"The tainted and criminals should not be allowed to enter the Vidhana Sabha and Lok Sabha," he said.

Vajpayee said there was a talk that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would convene a meeting on this issue but it had not materialised so far.

Vajpayee also hit out at the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government on its performance, saying that while the GDP growth was 8 per cent during the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) rule, it was the inflation, which was growing at 8 per cent under the UPA administration.

The Government was blaming the NDA regime for the "present situation" but the ground reality was price rise was under check during "our rule" and there was no "shortage" of foreign exchange.

Vajpayee said he had learnt that the people would now have to stand in queue to get LPG cylinders and added that if it was true, it was sad and worrying.

He said they were not troubled and worried by the fact that they were in the Opposition. "We had old experience of being in Opposition. We don't play power politics. For us, power is means to transform the country."

Earlier, Bharti in her address said that Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah viewed Mahatma Gandhi as a Hindu leader and not of both Hindus and Muslims.

She said Jinnah viewed the tricolour as a Hindu flag and not a national flag of India.

"The Congress party has the same mindset as Jinnah had then on the national flag," Bharti said, charging that the Congress was communalising the Tricolour and trying to divide Hindus and Muslims on this issue.