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BJP seeks explanation from Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 12. The Bharatiya Janata Party today demanded an explanation from the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on whether the attempt to "lure" Chhattisgarh MLAs was conducted with her approval. "She must come and explain to the House, whether she gave the permission to the former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, to win over MLAs," Vijay Kumar Malhotra, spokesperson of the BJP Parliamentary Party said.

Criticising the Congress for stalling the functioning of the Rajya Sabha in protest against the Union Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad's remarks about Ms. Gandhi, the BJP spokesman said such behaviour amounted to "reducing Parliament to a laughing stock." He said the reaction of the Congress was inexplicable, "after all they keep accusing the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister every other day."

Mr. Malhotra sought to defend the BJP's attempts to corner the Congress president and cited the example of the Opposition's boycott of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes. "Why do they want to wrap her in cotton wool. They should be prepared to accept criticism," he said.

He said the party would continue to keep at it until the Congress president clarified. "It is for Ms. Gandhi to explain how her name was mentioned on the tape. Till she does that the issue will keep cropping up.''

The BJP spokesperson referred to developments in the Punjab Congress and demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister on the issues raised by his own partymen. "The dissident activity is their internal matter, but the issues raised by the group opposed to the Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, need to be clarified," he said.

Mr. Malhotra asked the Punjab Chief Minister to explain the source of the money that he used to pay off his loans and to renovate his residence after assuming office.

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