Before entering the Lok Sabha on Wednesday for a debate on the recent Wikileaks exposé, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saw senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta standing in the corridor, preparing notes for the debate. Singh walked up to the Opposition leader, who was slated to initiate the debate against the government, and asked, “Tell me, how torturous is it going to be for me today?”
In the debate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toned down his attack on the Opposition, resorted to humour and even Urdu couplets to drive home his points. While making it emphatically clear once again that no one in the Congress or the government was involved in the alleged scams, he added, “We were not involved in any illegal act, nor we had authorised anybody to indulge in any bribe given during the vote of confidence in 2008.”
Sharp political exchanges took place between Congress ministers and top leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) during the debate. At one point, an agitated Congress President Sonia Gandhi retorted to the BJP bench, “People say the same thing (taking bribes) about your government.”
But the PM maintained his cool. He completely avoided his earlier contention of winning the 2009 elections with more seats. In a rather uncharacteristic fashion, to reply Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Manmohan Singh recited, “maana ki teri deed ke kabil nahin hoon main/ tu mera showk toh dekh, mera intezar toh kar” (I admit I’m not worthy of your attention but you should at least see my passion and wait for me). Not only was Swaraj floored but Gandhi thumped the desk in joy, leading the treasury bench in appreciation.
The long-drawn battle between him and NDA’s working chairman L K Advani took a different turn, as the senior BJP leader remained totally silent over the mention of his name in Wikileaks and the PM told him, “BJP leader L K Advani believed being Prime Minister was his birthright and, therefore, has never forgiven me for becoming the Prime Minister.” While even Advani started laughing, Singh continued, “People of India have voted us to power, please wait for another three and a half years.”
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Singh also took the stance of a statesman while replying to the debate. He wondered why the issue of Wikileaks was discussed in the first place, as the country was facing other “enormous challenges”. He referred to the crisis in the Arab world and pointed out that if the current situation escalated further, it might pose a serious problem for the country, as 70 per cent of India’s oil import comes from that region.
Aware that the Opposition was mulling a privilege motion against him, the PM pointed out that his earlier suo motu statement was based on what the previous Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee had said about the cash-for-vote probe.
Earlier, Swaraj launched a stinging attack on the Prime Minister and said, “It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise, then Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G, then A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then Suresh Kalmadi is to blame.”
“I don’t know anything, I am not aware of anything, there are coalition compulsions and I am not that much guilty as I am made out to be — the people are fed up with such excuses. They are asking why you are the Prime Minister,” Swaraj told the PM.
CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta accused the government of “parliamentary piracy” and demanded the PM came clean. The communist leader also asked why no further probe was conducted in the case. “It’s a case of parliamentary piracy because some members were hijacked. The suspicion is that an organised group of political gangsters were at work,” Dasgupta said.
The BJP also took a jab at Singh on his earlier contention that victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections had proved there was nothing wrong with the 2008 confidence motion. The BJP argued that in this logic, Narendra Modi should be let off, as he had twice won after the 2002 Gujarat riots. Yashwant Sinha added that former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda should be exonerated, as he won the Lok Sabha polls.
Swaraj also referred to the 1984 riots and pointed out that the Congress had won elections after the riots.