Cong. behaved as responsible Opposition, says Scindia

NEW DELHI, MAY 3. The deputy leader of the Congress(I) in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, has denied criticism that the party mishandled the Tehelka expose and failed to nail the Government, and disputed suggestions that it made a flipflop on its strategy.

Asked about the criticism of the Congress(I) for the disruption of the budget session, he said, ``In the session, the Congress(I) behaved as a responsible opposition party but the Government showed extreme rigidity on certain matters, especially the Tehelka issue.''

In an interview today, Mr. Scindia said that the Government had sought hustle through the issue by seeking a discussion in the Lok Sabha. The Government also wanted a vote on it, so that it could get Parliament's stamp of approval, and it would be the end of the matter.

``We obviously saw through this. They offered a JPC originally but went back on it, unfortunately leading to the imbroglio. If the Government is so rigid what else is left with the Opposition. You cannot be unreasonable with the Opposition.''

On why the Congress(I) did not accept the JPC when it was first offered by the Government, he said, ``Parliamentary democracy does not end with a deadline. Once you put a proposal, there is no cut off date to it. We take some time to mull over it. Our question is why did the Government go back on its offer? That is the legitimate question and not why we did not accept the proposal earlier.''

On what the party strategy would be to keep the heat on the Government on the issue, he said, ``I do not think we can plan a strategy two-and-half months away. One has to see the results of the Assembly elections. There are so many imponderables and I do not think we can plan out anything now.'' ``We will certainly not leave this issue,'' he said, adding that the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee's remarks that an ``open mind'' did not mean an empty mind seemed to be indicating rejection of the JPC demand. ``This was most regrettable and unfortunate.''

On the ``constructive dialogue'' offer of the Prime Minister to the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, he said after this Mr. Vajpayee had called her all sort of names at a book release function at his residence, which was ``totally inappropriate''.

``Constructive dialogue he says and then in the evening he dashes off this sort of statement. The Prime Minister delivered a written speech. It means everything was thought out. It was not as if it just happened. So the message is loud and clear that he wants a confrontationist attitude.''

On the charge that the Congress(I) was backtracking on economic reforms, he said the party had made it clear several times that the Government's liberalisation ``is not our version of liberalisation''.

The telecom and customs scams and the Tehelka episode showed that it was a ``totally scamster Government. One scam after another is being unearthed. We knew this was going to happen. It was only a matter of time. It has taken them a little over a year.''

The Government had made a total mess of running the country. ``On the social plane, there is tension. On the economic front, farmers and small scale industries are facing severe problems, and the Government lifted quantitative restrictions much earlier.''

Mr. Scindia said the Government had messed up the economy and the prices of LPG and diesel. ``This Government seems to be for a small group of elites.'' On international relations, he said, ``No one seems to be holding us in respect. We are treated shoddily right from Lahore. The Prime Minister was taken for a ride by Pakistan.''

Mr. Scindia said the way the External Affairs Minister escorted terrorists to Kandahar, the recent happening on the Bangladesh border and the way the country was toeing the U.S., India was losing prestige and self-respect in the world. ``In the foreign front, we are a total flop''.

- PTI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : V.P. Singh wants to depose before Liberhan
           Commission
Next     : Cong. opportunistic: Jaitley