Siddharth Varadharajan
New Delhi: Switching into domestic gear after a five-day overseas trip, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scotched rumours of early elections and said his government had backed the recent adjournment of the Lok Sabha after consultations with the Opposition and not because it was scared of facing Parliament. “Most parties are in election mood… In the meantime, we have agreed that Parliament will reconvene in December,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of general elections being advanced, Dr. Singh asserted that “elections will be held on schedule.”
At the same time, he underlined the ambiguity of his own future political status within the ruling Congress party by parrying a direct question on whether he intended to contest the next elections as every sitting Prime Minister has done since Independence barring temporary incumbents like H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral.
“We will decide that when the time comes,” is all that he was willing to say.
The Prime Minister was speaking to reporters during his return flight to India on Saturday night after a three-day visit to Beijing to attend the seventh summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting.
On the growing communal violence and lawlessness in Maharashtra, Orissa and elsewhere and what action was being contemplated against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Dr. Singh said he wouldn’t like to discuss these issues in public since “the situation requires tactful handling.” He said “any regional tension or animosity is an act of disservice to our country” and that “whatever is necessary to restore calm, to restore respect for the rule of the law should be undertaken.”
Dr. Singh criticised the notion that terrorist incidents were the product of any particular religion and urged the media “and all thinking segments of our population” to not make such a link. “Regardless of religion, we have to deal wholly and effectively with terrorism.” He dismissed the suggestion that the government was soft on Hindu fanatics suspected of terrorism. “I am sorry that such a feeling exists but those of you who have read the newspapers about Malegaon … would consider this is a one-sided view. Terrorists, whichever section indulges in nefarious activities, must be brought to book regardless of the community to which they belong.”
(The Maharashtra police recently arrested three Hindu activists for planting bombs in Malegaon).
Left claim
Asked about the Left parties’ argument that their opposition to further reforms had insulated the Indian economy from the global financial crisis, Dr. Singh said he begged to differ. But he said he was “not very happy to part company with our left colleagues.” India was facing difficult problems and all parties “committed to secularism and nationalism must work together to deal with the communal and regional divide which is being sought to be created by some anti-social elements.”
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