Monday, March 7 2005 17:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: A scheduled meeting of NDA (Mar 7, 2005) leaders with President A P J Abdul Kalam regarding Jharkhand developments was cancelled at the last minute owing to his "other engagements".

The delegation, comprising NDA convener George Fernandes, senior BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party) leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, was scheduled to call on the President at 16:00 hrs (IST) to press for further advancement of the date for trial of strength in the Jharkhand Assembly.

"The President had other engagements and therefore this appointment has been put off," Rashtrapati Bhavan sources said.

"We were informed that the appointment has been put off due to unavoidable circumstances," BJP vice-president Rajnath Singh told reporters when asked about the cancellation.

He said NDA had no plans to seek a fresh appointment and would do so only in the event of any "exigency".

Earlier in the day, party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj had told reporters that the delegation wanted to convey to the President that the State Governor's decision to "advance" the dates for the trial of strength by six days was "not a solution" and that it should be further advanced.

She said the NDA leaders also planned to urge the President to ensure that all MLAs supporting the alliance should be provided security "as they were being threatened" by the Soren Government in the State.

The NDA leaders were also expected to request Kalam to stop the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) from holding a rally in Ranchi on March 14, on the eve of the trial of strength, apprehending that it could lead to violence.