GANDHINAGAR, India The new president of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Sunday he was confident the new government would overcome differences between its member parties. There are bound to be `hiccups' now and them. We have the strength to ride over them, said Kushabhu Thakre who took over the BJP presidency from Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday. Thakre, addressing a BJP national executive meeting in Gandhinagar, capital of the western state of Gujarat, cautioned that the BJP-led coalition needed to be careful about its image.

There is a danger of the impression gaining ground that this (coalition) is like a quarrelling business house where some partners do not see eye to eye, he said. If such an impression gains ground, then it would be unfortunate. The six-week-old government has been weakened by a public row amongst its diverse constituent parties. Two ministers were eased out of the government after courts ordered them to stand trial on corruption charges.

In his address, the Hindu nationalist party chief said the BJP was not being remote controlled by the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) of which he is a long-time member. To allege that the RSS controlled the BJP is not a travesty of the objective truth but also completely misrepresents the subjective reality as regards to the nature and thinking of the Sangh leadership, he said.

All organizations inspired by the RSS are free to take their own decision. Thakre said India was being seen as soft and incapable of taking tough decisions. (Reuter)