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Rediff.com  » Election » It's BJP, Arif Mohammad Khan has made up his mind

It's BJP, Arif Mohammad Khan has made up his mind

February 23, 2004 16:27 IST
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi's efforts to dissuade Arif Mohammad Khan from joining the Bharatiya Janata Party have failed.

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Arif Mohammad Khan meets Sonia Gandhi


The former Union minister said he has made up his mind to campaign for the BJP in the general election.

"Gandhi is the president of a national party and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. She had invited me for a cup of tea and I accepted it....I do not want to mix personal relations with politics," Khan told reporters after meeting Gandhi at her residence on Monday.

The Congress president is understood to have stressed the need for the secular forces to stand united in her meeting with Khan.

Khan, however, refused to comment on what was discussed at the meeting. "It would not be proper for me to disclose what transpired. But let me thank her for the gesture. She was extremely courteous and graceful," he said.
    
Asked if he would merely campaign for the BJP or formally join the party, Khan said: "I have left the decision to the BJP leadership. It is for them to decide."

 

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