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Oppn has failed to name alternative leader: Advani
New Delhi, Aug 18: In a frontal attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha for moving a no-confidence motion aganist NDA government, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said that the Opposition had failed to name its leader who could replace Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister.
New Delhi, Aug 18: In a frontal attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha for moving a no-confidence motion aganist NDA government, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said that the Opposition had failed to name its leader who could replace Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister.
Let there be a provision under which the name of the leader would be made known before such a motion was moved in the House, Advani said recalling the failure of the opposition to provide an alternative government in 1998 when the Vajpayee ministry was defeated by a single vote.
If that was so, the motion could not have been brought by the opposition before the house, he said while participating in the debate on the motion.
He was, however, happy that the motion would give an opportunity to Vajpayee to spell out achievements of the government during the last five years.
Criticising Gandhi for the language used by her against the government while moving the motion, Advani rejected her accusation that the ruling coalition was undermining democracy. "I cannot use such a language and i am not used to it," he said.
Advani said that it was the Congress which had thrown democracy to the winds in 1975 by imposing emergency.
Gandhi shot back, saying those languishing in jails during the emergency had written to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi pleading for their release.
This led to a furore in the house with former prime minister Chandra Shekhar taking strong exception to it and saying that she should not make such a sweeping remark. If she had the letter, she should make it public, he said.
Advani said that lakhs of people including eminent personalities like Morarji Desai, Vajpayee and others were imprisoned during emergency and asked Gandhi not make such an alllegation to justify imposition of the draconian measure.
Amid shouts and countershouts, he asked the Leader of the Opposition to table the letter if she had it.
BJP MPs Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Kirit Somaiya questioned how she got the letter when she was not even an Indian national during the emergency. This drew loud protests from Congress members.
In her speech, Gandhi had presented a picture to the world which only condemns and hurt India's image, Advani said, observing it was not so and gave a number of examples where the country has been recognised by the international community.
Describing the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests as "a turning point" in enhancing India's prestige internationally, the Deputy Prime Minister said the NDA government was not taking all the credit for it but it was Vajpayee who finally decided to go for the tests.
"It was Vajpayee who took the decision although there had been many prime ministers before him," he said.
Another milestone came when the Vajpayee government ensured a free, fair and transparent elections in Jammu and Kashmir which was acknowledged by the international community as well as the world media, he said.
He also listed creation of new states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarachal as the achievement of the NDA coalition while admitting that this would not have been possible without the cooperation of the opposition as these measures required constitutional amendments.
In her speech, Gandhi had presented a picture to the world which only condemns and hurt India's image, Advani said, observing it was not so and gave a number of examples where the country has been recognised by the international community.
Describing the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests as "a turning point" in enhancing india's prestige internationally, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the NDA government was not taking all the credit for it but it was Vajpayee who finally decided to go for the tests.
"It was Vajpayee who took the decision although there had been many prime ministers before him," he said.
Another milestone came when the Vajpayee government ensured a free, fair and transparent elections in Jammu and Kashmir which was acknowledged by the international community as well as the world media, he said.
He also listed creation of new states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal as the achievement of the NDA coalition while admitting that this would not have been possible without the cooperation of the opposition as these measures required constitutional amendments.
Repeatedly stressing that India's image had gone up before the world due to deft handling of the foreign policy by the government, the Deputy Prime Minister regretted that the progress as per the huge potential within the country could not be made earlier because Congress was in power.
"Gandhi's charge that everything is bad and there is only corruption is absolutely unfair," he said, adding he was not downgrading the contributions of Pandit Nehru and other leaders.
He also recalled that senior Congress leader K Natwar Singh had opposed the nuclear tests which had given a standing to India globally.
Advani lashed out at the congress president for criticising security forces, saying they were the people who were protecting the country.
If that was so, the motion could not have been brought by the opposition before the house, he said while participating in the debate on the motion.
He was, however, happy that the motion would give an opportunity to Vajpayee to spell out achievements of the government during the last five years.
Criticising Gandhi for the language used by her against the government while moving the motion, Advani rejected her accusation that the ruling coalition was undermining democracy. "I cannot use such a language and i am not used to it," he said.
Advani said that it was the Congress which had thrown democracy to the winds in 1975 by imposing emergency.
Gandhi shot back, saying those languishing in jails during the emergency had written to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi pleading for their release.
This led to a furore in the house with former prime minister Chandra Shekhar taking strong exception to it and saying that she should not make such a sweeping remark. If she had the letter, she should make it public, he said.
Advani said that lakhs of people including eminent personalities like Morarji Desai, Vajpayee and others were imprisoned during emergency and asked Gandhi not make such an alllegation to justify imposition of the draconian measure.
Amid shouts and countershouts, he asked the Leader of the Opposition to table the letter if she had it.
BJP MPs Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Kirit Somaiya questioned how she got the letter when she was not even an Indian national during the emergency. This drew loud protests from Congress members.
In her speech, Gandhi had presented a picture to the world which only condemns and hurt India's image, Advani said, observing it was not so and gave a number of examples where the country has been recognised by the international community.
Describing the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests as "a turning point" in enhancing India's prestige internationally, the Deputy Prime Minister said the NDA government was not taking all the credit for it but it was Vajpayee who finally decided to go for the tests.
"It was Vajpayee who took the decision although there had been many prime ministers before him," he said.
Another milestone came when the Vajpayee government ensured a free, fair and transparent elections in Jammu and Kashmir which was acknowledged by the international community as well as the world media, he said.
He also listed creation of new states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarachal as the achievement of the NDA coalition while admitting that this would not have been possible without the cooperation of the opposition as these measures required constitutional amendments.
In her speech, Gandhi had presented a picture to the world which only condemns and hurt India's image, Advani said, observing it was not so and gave a number of examples where the country has been recognised by the international community.
Describing the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests as "a turning point" in enhancing india's prestige internationally, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the NDA government was not taking all the credit for it but it was Vajpayee who finally decided to go for the tests.
"It was Vajpayee who took the decision although there had been many prime ministers before him," he said.
Another milestone came when the Vajpayee government ensured a free, fair and transparent elections in Jammu and Kashmir which was acknowledged by the international community as well as the world media, he said.
He also listed creation of new states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal as the achievement of the NDA coalition while admitting that this would not have been possible without the cooperation of the opposition as these measures required constitutional amendments.
Repeatedly stressing that India's image had gone up before the world due to deft handling of the foreign policy by the government, the Deputy Prime Minister regretted that the progress as per the huge potential within the country could not be made earlier because Congress was in power.
"Gandhi's charge that everything is bad and there is only corruption is absolutely unfair," he said, adding he was not downgrading the contributions of Pandit Nehru and other leaders.
He also recalled that senior Congress leader K Natwar Singh had opposed the nuclear tests which had given a standing to India globally.
Advani lashed out at the congress president for criticising security forces, saying they were the people who were protecting the country.
Busting of 187 ISI modules was a major task of the government which took on Pakistan-backed proxy war like no one in the past, he said.
Since December 2001, various agencies had succeeded in seizing rs.4.5 crore which was meant to fund terrorists, he said.
Bureau Report