BJP faces flak from Opposition

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 23. Political parties on either side of the divide reacted on predictable lines to the fresh controversy arising out of the Tehelka tapes expose with the BJP demanding an inquiry into the methods adopted by the portal even as the Opposition insisted on action and discussion against those who were found collecting bribes on the tape.

The BJP said the Tehelka episode seemed to have undergone a change with the accent now on the methods employed by the portal. Senior party leader, Mr. J.P. Mathur, said he wondered how the Tehelka team of journalists ``stooped so low'' by using prostitutes in their pursuance of the ``so-called truth''. He said while the Venkataswami Commission was already going into the corruption issue, there should be a deeper inquiry into the functioning of journalists by some agency.

The Congress party also protested vehemently against the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, giving a clean chit to former Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes. The party's spokesperson, Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy, said it was highly improper for the Minister to give a clean chit when the Venkatswami Commission was still inquiring into the affair.

On the issue of taking action against the news portal and its editor, Mr. Tarun Tejpal, the Congress said this was a clear case of double standards as the Government had done nothing against people such as the former BJP chief, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, who were seen on video indulging in corruption.

The CPI(M) politburo said the new revelations have proved that the episode of corruption has much wider and scandalous ramifications than what appeared initially. It said when the party had in March demanded a through discussion in both Houses of Parliament, the Government turned it down. ``Now it is strange to see the NDA MPs who did not have the guts to agree to a discussion, yesterday resorting to entering the well of the House demanding arrest of the management personnel of Tehelka company, on grounds of ethics''.

While stating that the methods employed to get to the truth can be questionable, it cannot exonerate BJP's former president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman or Ms. Jaitly for having taken bribes endangering the security of the country. The party charged the Vajpayee Government with trying to sidetrack the issue to cover up their involvement in large-scale corruption and demanded that the whole Tehelka affair must be taken up for a discussion forthwith in Parliament.

The Samajwadi Party general secretary, Mr. Amar Singh, praised the website journalists for having done a tremendous job in exposing the ``rot in the system''. However, while disagreeing with the methods adopted, he said, a line should be drawn by journalists as to how far they could go in pursuit of their work.

Former Union Agricultural Minister, Mr. Chaturanan Mishra, said he was surprised over the reaction of the NDA allies and said instead of taking the exposure seriously particularly in Defence, the NDA was trying to hush up the matter by lung power. He said if the NDA wants the Tehelka team to be arrested, they should also be prepared to witness the scandal on television. ``Tehelka motive is not criminal and hence no criminal case can be there,'' he said in a statement.

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