BJP parliamentary party chief and NDA working chairman L.K. Advani on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to be more concerned about the leakage of tapes (taped conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and senior journalists) than credibility of his Cabinet. Mr Advani said government even
tried suggesting mid-term polls as a scare tactic to divert attention from the JPC but failed due to a united Opposition’s demand of a parliamentary committee probe into scams including 2G spectrum allocation.
Referring to Dr Singh’s order asking cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar earlier on Tuesday to look into the issue of telephone tapping, Mr Advani said, “He (Prime Minister) is worried about that (leakage). What is the aspect of concern? Common man’s concern is about the credibility of the government. There should be concern about this but that is not there.” He was briefing the media on NDA’s plan to highlight the scam issue.
Attacking the government on the JPC issue, Mr Advani said it was Congress’s “sheer obstinacy and obduracy” that Winter Session of Parliament witnessed logjam. He said the entire Opposition had demanded JPC on scams issues including 2G spectrum allocation. Mr Advani claimed the government even indulged in scare-mongering to frighten MPs by spreading speculation of mid-term polls if logjam continues.
“Have we demanded a mid-term poll? Has the Opposition demanded a mid-term poll? The mid-term poll talk has come officially. I am not going to name the minister. But I have heard it (later) being said by ministers deliberately because they know that Parliament has been elected just one-and-a-half years ago,” Mr Advani said.
He said Bihar poll results have reflected general mood of the country but the government seems to be “overconfident (by suggesting mid term polls).”
Mr Advani said the NDA will take the scams issue before people by organising public rallies. The NDA is organising one such rally in the national capital on December 22. This will be followed by rallies against corruption in Mumbai (January 16), Ludhiana, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad and Chennai. On the Radia tapes issue, Mr Advani said “It appeared that UPA government is not formed by the Prime Minister and, for long, we were under the wrong impression that it is not the PM but 10 Janpath (Congress president) which forms the Cabinet. But now, it has come forward that its neither the Congress chief nor the PM who forms the government.”