NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that it was not the Congress culture to allow "shadowy organisations to interfere in the work of elected governments."

Replying to the motion of thanks to the President's address amid slogan-shouting by the Opposition, he said the Opposition was raising inconsequential issues in the vital debate. "Time and again a question is raised about prime ministerial authority. It resembles some totalitarian system in a fascist State, where authority has to be visibly asserted to command compliance."

Referring to comments of BJP leader V.K. Malhotra on the United Programme Alliance leadership, Dr. Singh said: "That may be the culture of those who keep raising this issue of authority. The Prime Minister functions within a set of rules and a framework of rules. Those who raise this issue maybe unaware of this framework. They may think other parties function like theirs, allowing shadowy organisations to interfere in the work of elected governments. That is not the culture of the Congress.''

Issues of strength and weakness were raised to deflect public attention from real issues. "My authority derives from the performance record. I secure my strength from my work."

This work, he said, had made every Indian proud and reassured. "Proud as India is again on the march, as a secular Republic and a confident nation. Reassured because the march is not just of a few, but of all."

Lamenting the Opposition's inability to appreciate the essence of the President's address, he said: "During their tenure [NDA's] in office, they were unable to present such a comprehensive account of development and good governance. Their focus was on a retrograde, socially divisive, non-developmental agenda that mired the country in a low growth syndrome."

Seeking to close the controversy over dissolution of the Bihar Assembly, Dr. Singh said the subsequent elections to the Assembly and formation of a stable government "had rendered the debate infructuous."

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