Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani
today asked the Congress to stop "negative politics"
claiming it was dangerous for the country. He said he
hoped the party would stick to its Pachmarhi resolution
and not to go in for any coalition arrangement at the
Centre.
Intervening in the debate on the confidence motion,
Advani said it was not too late even now for the party
to rethink its stand on opposing the motion. Leader of
the Opposition Sharad Pawar had to complete the
formality.
"But it is P Shiv Shankar, who is all important. If he
decided to support the confidence motion, everything
will be clear," he said.
Advani wanted the Congress to spell out its alternative
plans before toppling this government. It would have
been better if the German constitution is followed in
this respect, he said, recalling former Lok Sabha
speaker Shivraj Patil's reference to article 67 of the
German constitution, which says that before dismissing a
government, the Parliament has to elect a new leader.
Asserting that the 1998 mandate was in favour of
Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition, he made it clear
that even before the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam extended its support, "we had 258 members".
Responding to points raised by Pawar, Advani said had
Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigned soon after the AIADMK
withdrew support, it would have been against the wishes
of the masses. In this connection, he said that of the
five non-Congress prime ministers since 1989, only
Vajpayee had completed one year in office.
This was why the Congress was getting jittery,
especially in view of the coming assembly election in
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, he said.
The home minister said his government had created a
favourable atmosphere for India in international fora by
measures that included the Pokhran II nuclear tests, the
Agni II missile tests, and a pro-developmental budget.
This was why the World Bank, in its report, had to
acknowledge India as the most sought-after destination
in this region. As high as 60 per cent of the
investments in this region are made in India, according
to the report, he said.
Advani regretted that the leader of the Opposition, who
was a former defence minister, had criticised the
successful test-firing of the Agni II missile.
"We want to strengthen India internationally and at the
same time extend our hand of friendship to Pakistan," he
said.
He said the Congress ought to be careful of the moves of
the Marxists. Quoting from a party report of 1996 and
the last general election manifesto of the Leftists that
opposed the Congress, he wondered how the same Marxists
were "anxious to see a Congress government installed"
He said he sympathised with the Communists, who had been
trying to grab the globe but are now confined to two
corners of India.
He said the Congress's intentions and view points are
clear. "But what are your alternative plans?" he asked
the Marxists.
Advani accused the Congress of launching a "systematic
disinformation campaign" to drive a wedge between him
and Vajpayee.
"However, our party is not like the Congress. No matter
what you do, you cannot break our unity," he said.
Regretting that Pawar had raised the issue of alleged
attacks on Christians, the home minister said six such
cases from Baripada, Jhabua and Varanasi had proved
"absolutely baseless". Ever since the BJP government had
come to power, the rumour has been spread around the
globe that it promoted fundamentalism. Given the
background of india's culture, fundamentalism can never
succeed here, he said emphatically.
Advani said the government has a "special
responsibility" towards the minorities. It is for the
first time that the government has instituted a judicial
inquiry headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge to go
into the killing of a foreigner, in this case an
Australian missionary and his two children in Manoharpur
village of Keonjhar district of Orissa. This was to lend
more credibility to the inquiry, he said.
The home minister claimed that 1998 was "by and large a
riot-free year", with the lowest incidence of communal
clashes in 1989-1998.
When Advani thanked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for
defeating the plan to topple the government, some AIADMK
members pointed out that DMK had been calling BJP names
till recently. Advani replied said in a democratic
politics, there was nothing like an untouchable.
"For us even the CPI-M is not untouchable," he said.