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Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani admitted on Wednesday night that the forty-eight-hour delay in responding to tehelka.com's expose had dented the government's image, but asserted that the National Democratic Alliance partners would stay together and ride out the crisis.
"The 48-hour delay was tactically and strategically wrong and the emphasis on the conspiracy angle from a position of power was a mistake. It would have suited if we were in the opposition," Advani told Aaj Tak, a television news channel, in an interview.
Asked what he thought the NDA and the government should have done in the wake of the expose of corruption in defence deals, Advani noted that Bharatiya Janata Party president Bangaru Laxman had resigned the same evening. "It would have been better had the president of an NDA ally [the Samata Party] followed suit," he said.
Responding to questions on the withdrawal of support by Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, he said Banerjee had probably made up her mind earlier to quit the coalition and found a convenient excuse in the Tehelka tapes to sever ties.
Asked whether the party would again become a political untouchable after the exit of Banerjee's party and the Pattali Makkal Katchi from the alliance, the home minister said, "There is no threat to the coalition now."
He said that immediately after the expose, efforts were made by the Congress and other Opposition parties to wean away some of the NDA allies, but they did not succeed.
On the resignation of George Fernandes as defence minister, Advani said that soon after the airing of the secretly filmed videotapes, Fernandes had offered to step down though the films did not have anything involving him.
"At that time, we were of the view that Fernandes should not quit, but he insisted on stepping down," he said.
On the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the Tehelka allegations, Advani said the government would have acceded to the demand had such a view emerged from a debate in Parliament. But the Opposition was not ready for a debate and wanted the impasse in the two Houses to continue in view of the coming assembly elections in five states. Since the Opposition declined to change course, the government set up a commission of inquiry, he said.
He denied any similarity of the present impasse with the stalling of Parliament's proceedings by the BJP following allegations of corruption against former Union minister Sukh Ram in 1994, saying this time the government was ready to debate the matter and make a statement in Parliament, unlike then.
Replying to a question about the damage to the BJP's image, Advani said, "BJP continues to be a party with a difference. Its president resigned immediately and certain other hard measures were also taken. In sharp contrast, the Congress took no measures in the Bofors case."
Asked about the suspension of home ministry director Thomas Mathew following what has come to be known as the Tehelka scandal, Advani said he had been shifted to another department after it was found that certain confidential papers relating to the Northeast were missing in September last.
Regarding extension of the ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir, he said the move was aimed at providing peace to the people in the state and giving a message to the international community that India wanted normalcy. These two objectives had been achieved, he noted.
Advani said, however, that he did not hope for much of a response from Pakistan.
PTI
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