PRESS CONFERENCE OF SHRI P. CHIDAMBARAM AT MUMBAI 15-04-09 SEE VIDEO

Press Briefing Wednesday, 15 Apr 2009

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan addressed the media today.

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan said that the campaigning for the first phase of the elections has now come to an end and those constituencies will be casting their vote imminently. The campaigning for the first phase of the polls have witnessed a new low in public rhetoric by the BJP, with the first step being taken by Varun Gandhi, with his now infamous hate speech. The antics of the BJP leaders, as they took different stands on Varun Gandhi's speech, first distancing themselves from it, and thereafter supporting him, thoroughly exposed the classic double standards of the BJP party. Thereafter, with every leader and every speech, the BJP party has lowered the standard of public debate, and irretrievably damaged our secular democratic polity. Leading the group is Shri Narendra Modi, whose obnoxious comments about elderly women being a burden upon society provoked national outrage.

Smt. Natarajan said that it is abundantly clear that the BJP party has neither any issue nor any programme to attack the Indian National Congress and is, therefore, resorting to personal abuse as an election tactic. The BJP party's own record in Government is abysmal, both in the arena of terror and national security, as well as the economy. Their stand on important issues is riddled with contradiction within their own ranks, and also their leader Shri Advani takes a different stance on important subject, depending upon his audience. Thus he may rake up the Ram temple at election time, but he also would go to Pakistan and call Jinnah secular. Thus the BJP has resorted to wholesale abuse of Congress leaders as its primary agenda.

Smt. Natarajan said that this unparliamentary and ill advised tactic of the BJP party will not be productive. Their vituperative attacks have only served to lower and expose them in the public eye. The Congress party is more than capable of answering the BJP party, on its own terms but will never descend to the low levels of campaign managed by the BJP leaders. However, even a factual rebuttal of the BJP allegations, has sent to the BJP leadership scurrying for cover, as the Leader of the Opposition declared how hurt he was, after having led his party in abusing the Prime Minister, every other Constitutional functionary, and the Congress leadership over the last 5 years.

Smt. Natarajan further said that it is shocking that Advani boycotted the Prime Minister's farewell for the outgoing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. It is very clear from this graceless act, what little respect the BJP party and its leaders have for Parliamentary democracy. They are so intolerant and so contemptuous of democratic tradition that Shri Advani insults the office of Speaker, by boycotting the Prime Minister's dinner for the Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition has devalued his own post, and damaged it beyond repair, by this action. In fact he has thus abdicated voluntarily from the duties of Leader of the Opposition.

Smt. Natarajan said that once again, the BJP party has dealt a body blow to Parliamentary democracy. As the electorate goes to the polls, people will remember the meritorious record of Dr. Manmohan Singh Government, and the visionary input of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, with regard to some major initiatives taken by the Government, particularly NREGA and RTI, and vote the Congress party back to power, while rejecting totally the ugly posturing of a rudderless BJP, whose leader has already abdicated the post of Leader of the Opposition, and with these elections will be consigned to the footnotes of history. We particularly condemn this politicizing even a farewell dinner and the fact that this has damaged all parliamentary traditions that have survived in this country over all these years.

To the question of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Shri L.K. Advani and the Left party not attending the dinner hosted by the Prime Minister for outgoing Speaker of Lok Sabha, Smt. Natarajan said that Smt. Sonia Gandhi does not hold a formal position in the Government. She was busy out of town campaigning for the party.

Smt. Natarajan said that the same does not apply to Shri Advani. As far as the Left is concerned, Smt. Natarajan said that it was regrettable to politicize the dinner by boycotting it. However, they are not the leader of the Opposition. That is the special issue attached to the boycott by Shri Advani but we condemn in unequivocal terms the act of the Left as well.

There is a special sanctity attached to the post of the Leader of the Opposition and we believe it was important for Shri Advani to have upheld that tradition. To that extent, we condemn his boycott. It is the boycott. Smt. Natrajan said that the media is calling it 'declining' but we are calling it boycott. Smt. Natarajan further said that the Congress party is not politicizing it. It is a serious issue. These are the niceties that should be observed in a parliamentary democracy at a time, whatever the heat of the campaign and the election campaign happens outside in a political battle. Unless these niceties are observed, the fabric of a dialogue in a parliamentary democracy will totally break down and that is the reason why we take a serious view.

To another question of the Prime Minister praising the Left party, does that mean that the Congress party wants their support to form the next Government, Smt. Natarjan said that the media is reading too much and interpreting the Prime Minister's statement in a particular way. Smt. Natarajan made it clear that she does not have the authority to add or subtract from what the Prime Minister has said. Smt. Natarajan said that the Congress party has every confidence that UPA will be able to form the Government on its own strength and further said that the Congress party has full confidence that we will be able to get enough numbers to form the Government.



(Tom Vadakkan)

Secretary, AICC