India's new deputy leader rejects accusations of hardline agenda

India's newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani, batted away accusations yesterday that his party was reviving a hardline Hindu nationalist agenda on the eve of a cabinet reshuffle.

The 74-year-old, who will also remain Minister for Home Affairs, was named deputy on Saturday, formalising his long-held position as second-in-command in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the more moderate Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 77. The Hindu newspaper said the appointment marked "the beginning of the end of the Vajpayee innings and the consecration of Mr Advani as the power behind the prime ministerial throne".

Mr Advani was quick to counter accusations from the opposition Congress party that the BJP was abandoning its secular moorings with a series of hardliner appointments. In a television interview, he stressed support for the coalition, which constrains the BJP's pro-Hindu stance. "The compulsions of coalition politics are that even while you are true and sincere and committed to your own ideology, you function on the basis of an agreed minimum programme," he said.

Mr Vajpayee is expected to swap his finance and foreign ministers today to try to revive economic reforms. The reshuffle was delayed by the military stand-off with Pakistan.

Despite a reduction in tension, violence has surged recently in the disputed Kashmir province. Eight people, including four Pakistanis and two Indian soldiers, were reported killed at the weekend.