Congress making sinister moves to oust government, says Vajpayee

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today accused the Congress of resorting to ''sinister moves'' to remove his 13-month old coalition ministry.

Replying to the two-day debate on the motion of confidence in his government, he said the Congress had declined to attempt forming a government after the last general elections on the plea that it would do so only after getting a clear majority. He wondered what forced it now to change its stand that it had again endorsed at its Panchmari session.

The prime minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party took the initiative of forming the government only after the Congress failed to take any firm initiative.

Vajpayee regretted that the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had no consideration for the nation's vital interests when it decided to withdraw the support to the government. He quipped that democracy was a "game of numbers".

The prime minister said he was accused by the opposition parties of ignoring democratic norms because he did not call for a confidence vote. He said the opposition could have brought a non-confidence motion "instead of knocking at the doors of Rashtrapati Bhavan".

Vajpayee said Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao too had led minority governments, but they had never sought a confidence vote. Why were the Congress party and other opposition making it an issue now, he asked.

Quoting from the Congress manifesto of the last general elections that denigrated regional parties, the prime minister asked how was it now going to share power with them?

He said the leftists too, in their manifesto, had admitted they were yet to join the mainstream. "May be by roping them in now, the Congress was trying to bring them into the "national mainstream," he said. He also wondered how, after all it had said about the Janata Dal, the Congress hoped to strike a deal with that party.

If there was any mandate, it was in favour of the BJP-led coalition and "definitely not for you [the Congress],'' he said.

Vajpayee said in the past 13 months, his government had tried its best to translate into action its national agenda for governance. The national agenda is for five years and we are committed to fulfill it in that period, he said.

The prime minister said during this brief period of governance, there was "marked improvement" in the overall situation, be it defence, economic or diplomatic relations with neighbours.

Vajpayee expressed surprise at the criticism levelled at the Pokhran nuclear tests. When in 1974 then prime minister Indira Gandhi had carried out the first such test, "we welcomed it even while we were in the opposition. Where was any threat to the nation at that time," he asked.

"Advance planning would ward off any possible threat to national security," he said, "carrying out nuclear tests was part of the national agenda of the government," he told the House.

Vajpayee did not agree with former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's views on Pokhran. He said whatever is happening in Europe should be an eye-opener for the country. The nuclear tests were aimed at equipping the nation with a "minimum credible deterrent".

The prime minister said he was aware of the fall-out due to economic sanctions following those tests but was also confident that the nation could face them and progress without fear. That is what has happened. "The economic sanctions imposed on us could not stop us from forging ahead on all fronts," he said.

The prime minister said it was the firm commitment of the government not to use nuclear weapon first as also against those countries who did not possess nuclear arms. The government had also announced that there would no further nuclear tests. India was in a position to conduct one more test at Pokhran now but it was abandoned "since our purpose was served", he said.

He said nuclear weapons could also be used to avert war. Equilibrium in defence preparedness was one of the reasons for the prolonged peace in Europe after the World War II.

The prime minister said India was under tremendous international pressure after the nuclear test, but we ignored it in the interest of our national security and integrity. The government wanted to protect the national boundaries for which a minimum and credible nuclear deterrent was required.

Vajpayee said Pokhran nuclear test and the Lahore bus yatra were two sides of the same political coin. It indicated that on one hand we wanted to strengthen our national security and on the other hand we wanted to maintain ''honest friendship'' with our neighbours.

The prime minister said "our friend" had criticised the government for delaying the Agni II test when it was already underway. If such criticism had been levelled before the test, it would have created misunderstandings among the people, he said.

Amid thumping of desks from the treasury side, he declared that his government would not knuckle under international pressure as the national interest was supreme. He alleged that the previous Congress governments had abandoned nuclear tests under international pressure. This observation had been made by former defence minister R Venkataraman, he said.

The prime minister said his government was always eager to maintain cordial relation with neighbouring countries in this context. In this context steps were taken to improve trade relations with Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and that a bus service between Calcutta and Dhaka would start soon.

Vajpayee said there was considerable improvement in Jammu and Kashmir, barring sporadic incidents. He congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for helping the government restore peace. He said the people of that state had decided not to be victims.

The government had also taken series of measures to restore normalcy in the north-east region by launching economic upliftment programmes, he said.

The prime minister said the opposition was taken into confidence on issues of national importance as a big country like India could not be run without taking everyone along. The opposition has it is own responsibility towards the government that it should carry out.

But the government could not share some information with the opposition beforehand, he said adding that then prime minister Indira Gandhi had not informed the opposition before conducting the first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974.

"But we did not complain about this at that time," he said. Vajpayee asserted that his government had always and will strive to take the co-operation of the opposition for the national issues.

The prime minister deplored that in the issue of reservation for women, the opposition unnecessarily accused the government for not taking up the legislation in this regard in Parliament when, in fact. It was the opposition that sabotaged it.

"If the opposition is sincere on this, we are ready to take up the reservation issue now," he said. "However, since the government did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, some legislations of national importance were adopted with the support of the opposition in the upper house. But some could not be taken up because of differences within the opposition itself, he said.

Referring to the economic situation, the prime minister said his government inherited an economy in shambles but, during the past six months, the situation had improved, with GDP growth at 5.8 per cent and inflation coming down to 4.6 per cent coupled with stability in prices.

However, political in stability was bound to have a reverse impact on the economy particularly when such instability was deliberately created so frequently. Even if the opposition happened to form the government amid political instability it would also come face to face with a deteriorating economy.

The prime minister claimed that his government had made spectacular achievements in building national security, improving the economy, maintaining internal peace and enlisting the support of the countrymen on the national issues.

Vajpayee referred to the demand by the farmers and some other parties and associations for rolling back the hike in urea prices and said efforts will be made to reduce the burden on the farmer. He, however, did not explain whether the prices would be rolled back.

The prime minister said Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has described in detail the condition of the economy and the steps the government took to revive it.

This year there has been a record production of foodgrains. The credit for this does not go to the government but to the farmers and the agricultural policies evolved so far over the years, he said, adding that political mileage was taken out of any calamity.

He said the government has decided to extend the period of reservation for scheduled castes and tribes by another 10 years. The earlier period of reservation is to expire soon, he said.

Vajpayee said there were two memoranda regarding the welfare of scheduled castes and tribes.

"We will ensure that this issue is expedited and said one bill in this regard is ready, there were two cases pending in the courts," he said.

Vajpayee said the existing arrangement with regard to scheduled castes and tribes was not satisfactory at all. Other issues relating to the welfare of scheduled castes and tribes will be taken up soon, he said.

Referring to the issue of sacking of naval chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Vajpayee said the government could consider the demand of opposition of setting up a parliamentary committee after a discussion with senior leaders like Chandrashekhar, H D Deva Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav, P Shiv Shankar and leader of the opposition Sharad Pawar.

He said the document circulated by the defence ministry can be made the basis of discussion on the floor of House. The document on the sacking of former naval chief was made on the direction of Lok Sabha speaker G M C Balayogi.

On the issue of corruption, he said his party had been fighting and raising corruption issue for the past 50 years. "How can it comprise on it after assuming power," Vajpayee asked.

The prime minister said the coalition government has limitations and "we are working accordingly".

"I have taken all decision in the interests of the nation," he said.

Replying to the statement made by some members about a rift between himself and Home Minister L K Advani, Vajpayee said there were no difference of opinion between them. However, there may be some rift between Sharad Pawar and chief whip of the Congress P Shiv Shankar, he said.

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