Appearing determined to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has sharpened its attack on the government, particularly on the 2G spectrum scam, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said the government would reply to the charges in Parliament.
“Anything raised in Parliament — now that it is in session — will be replied to in Parliament. The allegations made by the BJP will be replied to by the Congress party's spokespersons,” he told a press conference here.
The Minister said the escalation in the BJP's recent attack on the government ran parallel to the pace of probe in some terror cases.
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Declining to comment on the statements of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, he said: “I do not want to comment on what the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition said. There is some room for give-and-take in politics. Statements are made but I think what is important is that we get on with the business of Parliament and anything raised in Parliament, any issue raised in the debate and if the presiding officer permits the debate, certainly the government will reply to the debate.”
Asked why the Congress spokesperson was only defending the Prime Minister and not him in the 2G spectrum case, Mr. Chidambaram said the BJP was “targeting the Prime Minister more than me.”
“Well, all I can say is that there must be some reason to target us... Although they know and privately a number of BJP leaders have told me that they don't believe what some of their colleagues say,” he told journalists.
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Raja’s demand
To a question that the former Telecom Minister, A Raja, now lodged in the Tihar jail, had demanded that Mr. Chidambaram be summoned to the court as a witness in the 2G spectrum case, the Home Minister said: “Arguments by counsel in a court of law are arguments. No more.”
When a reporter persisted in asking him if he would go if summoned by the court in the 2G case as a witness, Mr. Chidambaram cited a Tamil proverb: “When aunt grows a moustache, she becomes an uncle,” indicating that he would not answer hypothetical questions.
Mumbai blasts
On the probe into last month's bomb blasts in Mumbai, Mr. Chidambaram said Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan informed him on Sunday that the inputs received from the investigators suggested that there was progress in the probe.
“Beyond that he has not shared [any information] with me and therefore I am unable to share any details with you,” he told reporters.
“All possibilities are open and all leads will be explored. I have not ruled out or ruled in any particular possibility. So, we stand by that statement.”
Mr. Chidambaram said he was in regular touch with the Maharashtra government on the probe conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad and the National Investigation Agency, which was associated with it from the very beginning.