Arun Jaitley finds new meaning in PM's 'birth right' remark

NEW DELHI: It was payback time for the BJP. Two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made carping remarks about LK Advani treating prime ministership as his birth right, BJP leader Arun Jaitley hit back saying that Singh’s statement was not meant for the BJP leader but “someone else” .

Without naming the Gandhi family, the BJP leader said the remark was alluding to the widely-held perception that the Congress was grooming another leader for the top job. “Democratic parties never accept the concept of birth right. It is only political parties which believe in dynastic succession who are committed to a concept of birth right,” Jaitley said while addressing a press conference here alongwith his counterpart in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP leaders, who made it clear that they were not prepared to swallow the insults from Prime Minister on their senior leader, said Advani or the BJP did not consider prime ministership a birth right. “Though the Prime Minister named Advani, I got the distinct impression that he was addressing someone else and asking someone else to wait for three years,” Jaitley said. While replying to the debate on cashfor-vote scandal, the Prime Minister had said in the Lok Sabha that Advani had felt that becoming the Prime Minister was his birth right and that the BJP leader saw him as an usurper. Further, Singh said Advani would have to wait at least for three-and-a-half years.

The BJP, which had gone on the defensive during the debate, had remained silent when the Prime Minister took the pot-shots evoking loud applause from the treasury benches. The BJP leaders, who described the Budget session as “one of accountability” said the government was adopting the strategy of “deflecting” to duck issues like 2G spectrum, CVC and cashfor-vote . They said JPC Chief P C Chacko’s concern about former ministers’ presence causing conflict of interest was also an extension of an attempt to divert attention . “It should be a non-issue . It could have been raised when the motion was brought in the House. It was an afterthought ,” Swaraj said.