NEW DELHI, 7 May 2005 — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in the Rajya Sabha, countering certain charges leveled against him and the United Progressive Alliance by the NDA opposition, seem to have further aggravated the ongoing political feud between the two political alliances.
Following an impromptu meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) accused the premier of “insulting” the opposition.
The NDA also charged him of being unaware of what was happening in his government as he did “not control” either the government or the party.
During his statement on Thursday, Manmohan had dismissed the charges laid against him and the government of not having taken any step to end the increasing gulf between the government and the opposition. Manmohan asserted that he had individually called several opposition leaders and he had been assured by one of them that the boycott of the Parliament would end soon.
Manmohan had also told the Rajya Sabha that in its memorandum to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the NDA had falsely accused the government of trying to prevent a meeting between Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf.
In the same vein, the prime minister also appealed to the opposition to end the boycott as all matters could be discussed on the floor of the house.
Displaying no sign of heeding Manmohan’s appeal to end the boycott of the Parliament, the NDA reiterated yesterday that they would continue this move till May 13.
Following the hour-long meeting, held at Vajpayee’s residence, NDA leaders displayed their “disappointment” at the “tone, tenor and content” of the prime minister’s statement. BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh, NDA convener George Fernandes and others attended the meeting.
Later, while briefing reporters, Jaswant Singh, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that the prime minister “does not know what is happening in the government and does not control the government and his party.”
Earlier the Prime Minister Office spokesman had commented about the NDA being “childish” and now with his statement, the prime minister had only added “insult to existing injury,” Jaswant Singh said.
“How can they expect us to cooperate (in this situation)?” he asked.
Regarding the prime minister’s comment about NDA having falsely accused his government of trying to prevent a meeting between Musharraf and Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh said that the prime minister should first go through the “wordings and phrases” of the memorandum.
The prime minister’s comment was “off-track” as the NDA had brought a “report” on this to the notice of the president, Jaswant Singh said.
Jaswant Singh termed the usage of IAF helicopters by Justice S.N. Phukan to travel to Maharashtra as an “artificial issue.” Earlier this week, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Parliament that the then Defense Minister Fernandes had approved the use of the helicopter (in December 2003) by Phukan who probed various defense deals under the NDA regime.
Normally, only the president, vice president and prime minister are entitled to use the VVIP aircraft, Mukherjee told the Parliament.
