M A I N   N E W S

PM defends decision on Bihar Assembly
S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 1
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today defended his government’s decision to dissolve the Bihar Assembly by pointing that even the Supreme Court did not have one opinion on the issue.

“The decision to dissolve the Bihar Assembly was the right thing on the basis of material available...As I have already said we respect the Supreme Court verdict...But even the Supreme Court did not have one opinion on the issue,” Dr Singh told newspersons at the national press conference here.

Ruling out his resignation or that of Home Minister Shivraj Patil over the apex court verdict, the Prime Minister said whatever action the government had to take in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement had been taken.

Observing that the government respected the Supreme Court’s judgement in which it indicted then Governor Buta Singh, the Prime Minister said even the apex court had two views on the matter as two of the five Judges had expressed a dissenting opinion in the judgement.

Asked about the controversial decisions of the governments in Goa and Jharkhand earlier, the Prime Minister said “I think we had done the right thing. There would have been some initial confusion, but at the end what we did was right.”

The Prime Minister also dismissed the opposition charge that the CBI facilitated defreezing of the bank accounts of Bofors pay-off case accused Ottavio Quattrocchi under the direction of the government.

“The act of freezing or defreezing was not undertaken at the behest of the government. It was part of the functioning of the CBI and it took necessary step based on the legal opinion received by it,” Dr Singh said. He said efforts were being made to modernise police force to effectively fight the Naxalism in the country.

PM avoids political queries
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 1
Except for a brief but hard-hitting attack on BJP leader L.K. Advani, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tended to skim the surface while responding to political queries at his second national press conference here today.

After 20 months in power, he appeared distinctly uncomfortable when asked about the dipping fortunes of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the recent Karnataka crisis or the party’s prospects in the upcoming five assembly elections. On the other hand, he came into his own while taking on the Opposition, especially BJP leader L.K. Advani.

The one occasion when he displayed some political spark was when his attention was drawn to the Opposition’s charge that he is the “weakest Prime Minister” and that he does not exercise power even though he holds this high office. His initial response was mild, saying he should not be judged on the basis of what Mr Advani had to say about him but his government’s achievements.

However, when pushed further on the issue, he was unable to hold back. He was quick to point out that he was not in the same league as Mr Advani. He recalled how the BJP leader paid a heavy political price for praising Jinnah in Pakistan. “How strong was Mr Advani. He went to Karachi, made some remarks on Jinnah ... and where was he after that,” he pointed out. Mr Advani was forced to step down as the RSS did not approve of his utterances, he added.

But for this brief reference, his 90-minute press conference was virtually devoid of political content. He made a conscious effort not to dwell at length on questions pertaining to the Congress. His answers tended to focus more on the UPA government’s achievements in the fields of economy and international relations.

This is precisely what happened when he was asked about the party’s near absence in key states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the fact that the government’s achievements or his own image did not improve the party’s fortunes.

He admitted the Congress was not well placed in UP and Bihar and that more needed to be done in that regard. However, he did not elaborate any further.

Similarly, he parried the question on the Congress’ overall sliding political graph, stating it was too early to pass a judgement. He then went on to enumerate all tasks accomplished by the UPA government in the 20 months.

He failed to give a direct answer when asked if he was mentoring Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi for a larger role in politics. All he said was that he would like all young people to take a more active interest in public affairs and in the management of the Congress but did not name Gandhi junior.