'Opposition's campaign against PM baseless'
Congress on Friday accused the BJP and other opposition parties of launching a "baseless and unjustified" campaign against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that yesterday's decision to put on hold disinvestment proposals was keeping with "se...
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday accused the BJP and other opposition parties of launching a "baseless and unjustified" campaign against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that yesterday's decision to put on hold disinvestment proposals was keeping with "sensitivities" of the coalition partners.
"Certain opposition parties, particularly the BJP has since yesterday launched a vicious campaign against the Prime Minister. The Congress party would like to strongly condemn the campaign which are totally unjustified and baseless", party spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan told reporters.
Attacking the saffron party for describing the Prime Minister as "weak and ineffective", she said the UPA coalition headed by Singh was doing a "magnificent job" specially for the "aam aadmi" (common man) in translating the basic and important goals of UPA's Common Minimum Programme.
Reminding the main opposition party that NDA government headed by it was called "roll-back" government following its backtracking on numerous decisions on BALCO, NALCO, Centaur Hotel disinvestment and sale off, Natarajan said BJP questioning the Prime Minister's decision to put on hold all disinvest was, therefore "uncalled for".
She dismissed suggestions that there were differences between the party and the government on the issue.
Natrajan said the UPA was not a one-party government but a coalition of a number of parties. "We are equally concerned about the sensitivity of all the other allies. The agenda of the coalition government follows coalition dharma", she said.
The Prime Minister's decision to put on hold all disinvestment proposals was not a sign of weakness but being sensitive towards coalition partners, she said.
Detailing a list of NDA allies protesting the decision to disinvest several of the PSUs, Natarajan said even former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said that those opposing disinvestment were "anti-reforms".
Asked if yesterday's decision meant the end of the disinvestment process, she said, "we will move forward on the declared path of economic reforms. We will keep the process of consultation going".
She also said there was no change in Congress-led UPA government's stand on disinvestment, which has already been articulated in the NCMP.
Natrajan also dismissed suggestions that the party has deviated from the NCMP on the issue and made it clear that it was concerned with the welfare of common men.
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