Thursday, June 15 2006 16:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (June 115, 2006) threw his weight behind slain party leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul, who is embroiled in a drug abuse case, saying the entire BJP was with the crisis-stricken family.

He, however, ruled out any immediate accommodation of Rahul, who was arrested ten days ago on drug charges and subsequently released on bail, into the party because of the criminal case pending against him.

"Completely...," he remarked when asked whether the BJP was supporting the Mahajan family in the wake of Rahul's involvement in a drug case.

"(But) taking him or not taking him into the party is out of the question until he comes clean out of the case," Vajpayee said.

He, however, welcomed Rahul's release on bail.

"It's a matter of satisfaction that he has been released on bail," he said.

Asked about allegations by Pravin Mahajan, who is accused of killing his brother and the Rajya Sabha member, that Vajpayee ignored illegal activities in the official residence of the party MP, the former Prime Minister said the accusations were unworthy of attention.

"Don't pay heed to them," he said.

"See what the family is saying," he added, referring to Poonam Mahajan's remarks that the party stood beside the family after her father's murder.

Earlier this month, Vajpayee had expressed sympathy for Rahul after his arrest under anti-narcotics laws, but the BJP described his remarks in Manali as an expression of grandfatherly concern for the 31-year-old man.