President's comments fan controversy

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan's criticism of Mr. Vajpayee's idea of a fixed term for Parliament, is fast developing into a Government versus Opposition battle.

A day after the BJP chief, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, chose to take pot shots at the President, it was the Congress party's chance to hit out at the Government today.

Reacting to Mr. Laxman's statement, the Congress said it was ``outrageous, unwarranted and improper''. Speaking to newspersons this afternoon, the party spokesman, Mr. Anand Sharma, said ``as the Head of the State, the President was sworn to protect the Constitution, therefore it was incumbent upon him to share his concerns and caution the nation''.

Mr. Sharma described as ``outrageous the BJP's attempt to denigrate the President specially when the nation was commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the republic''. He also attacked the BJP's move to review the Constitution by a non- representative and extra-constitutional body, saying it was aimed at ``hijacking the powers and functions of Parliament''.

Defending the present form of democracy, Mr. Sharma said the system of Parliamentary democracy based on a system of universal suffrage was adopted by the Constituent Assembly after an informed debate.

It ensured that the Government remained accountable to the people and the sovereignty of the people was vested in Parliament, he said. In the Congress party's view the campaign for indirect elections and the suggestion emanating from sponsored outfits in the guise of concerned NGOs betrays a sinister plan to subvert the democratic character of the nation. Mr. Sharma also rubbished claims that the idea of indirect polls was first mooted by Mahatma Gandhi.

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Section  : National
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