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Vajpayee, Advani praise RSS in Parliament

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani staunchly defended the role played in the country by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Vajpayee said the RSS had stood by the nation at difficult times. For example, it had taken part in the Republic Day parade at a time when the entire armed forces were at the border facing the Chinese troops in 1962. Later it had done the job of policing as the police forces were occupied elsewhere.

Asserting that the Uniform Civil Code was part of the Constitution, Advani said the RSS promotes the values of patriotism and discipline.

He said he joined the RSS at the age of 14.

Vajpayee said his government would remain committed to secularism and other basic features of the Constitution framed by Dr B R Ambedkar. He denied that there was any hidden agenda that will emerge later.

Following the assurance, the Lok Sabha yesterday adopted by voice vote the motion of thanks on President K R Narayanan's address to the joint session of Parliament on March 25.

Replying to the two-day debate, the prime minister tried to remove the apprehensions expressed by several Opposition members that the government's intention to set up a commission to review the Constitution was to introduce a new political set- up in the country.

The government is committed to democracy, and there would be no monarchy as feared by Bahujan Samaj Party leader Arif Mohammed Khan, Vajpayee said.

Eminent and impartial persons with knowledge of law and jurisprudence would be appointed as members of the proposed commission. The commission's recommendations would be placed before Parliament for debate, suggestions and approval. The recommendations would not be imposed on the nation, he added

Vajpayee said that his government would not succumb to pressures from any quarters while taking decisions on economic and security measures. The decisions would be ''our own in the interest of the people and the nation''.

He also assured the House that the basic structure of India's foreign policy would remain unchanged. ''India would never become a theocracy.''

Appealing to the members to cooperate with his government in fulfilling the basic needs of the people, Vajpayee said it would strive for consensus on vital national issues. When he was in the Opposition, he was also for such an attitude to the then governments.

He said political differences (rajnitik bikhrav) should not be allowed to go to such an extent that it becomes difficult to work collectively on basic questions.

He chided the opposition for projecting the national agenda as political sloganeering which was aimed at fooling the electorate. The voter had now become quite wise and, considering him or her as simpleton, was tantamount to disrespecting the electorate.

The government would endeavour to implement the national agenda for governance in five years to meet the basic requirements of the people for housing, education, healthcare, drinking water and employment, he said.

Vajpayee said his government was committed to decentralisation and giving more powers to the states.

UNI

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