'Cong., CPI(M) to be blamed'

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, APRIL 30. The BJP national president, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy, today held the Congress and the CPI(M) responsible for stalling a discussion on the budget, before its passage.

Talking to presspersons here, he said the BJP was more worried than the Opposition for having the budget passed without a debate and blamed the Congress and the CPI(M) for adopting ``a negative approach.'' The Government, he pointed out, had to pass it on voice vote, to avert a constitutional crisis.

Rejecting the allegations of the CPI(M) general secretary, Mr. Harkishen Singh Surjeet, that the BJP was trying to sell the country to multi-national companies (MNC), Mr. Krishnamurthy said the Government had to adapt itself to the changes taking place in the world.

Even Mr. Jyothi Basu, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, had toured abroad to woo foreign entrepreneurs to his State. ``The Communists, by behaving like an ostrich, are becoming irrelevant in today's political context.''

Mr. Krishnamurthy wondered why the Opposition, which stalled the proceedings of Parliament since March 13, did not ask for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe immediately after the Tehelka exposure.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, had announced that the Government was ready for a debate on the scam and on the next day, the Prime minister himself had agreed for a detailed discussion, as the issue, he felt, should not be allowed to prolong.

He asked the AIADMK supremo, Ms. J. Jayalalitha, not to adopt short-cuts to get her grievances redressed. ``I am not blaming her for taking the problem to the people. But she should not attribute motives for the rejection of her nominations.''

He said Mr. Vaiko, the MDMK general secretary, for reasons known to him, had left the DMK front of which the BJP was a part. Hence, it would be unethical to use the portrait of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee in the election posters of his party, he felt.

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Section  : National
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