Comments distorted, says Jairam Ramesh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 12.In his explanatory letter given yesterday to the Congress (I) president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Jairam Ramesh has said his comments (about her leadership) had been distorted.

The remarks, published in Asiaweek, had created a stir in the party and speculation that action would be taken against the AICC secretary. The matter now rests with Mrs. Gandhi, the party spokesperson, Mrs. Margaret Alva said today.

According to Mrs. Alva, Mr. Ramesh denied that he had said ``if things go the way they are, the Congress(I) will not come back to power for another 50 years''. He had checked this with the correspondent concerned and she confirmed his position, he said in his letter.

Mr. Ramesh clarified that what he actually said was that if the current state of affairs continued, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the Congress(I) had to face that the prospect of not coming to power on its own at the Centre was remote for the next 50 years.

As for the comment that ``people who saw her as a ticket to nirvana now see her as a ticket to narak (hell)'', Mr. Ramesh explained that he was putting forward not his own views but those of ``people who were on one side''.

Mrs. Alva announced that on May 16, the Congress(I) MPs, led by Mrs. Gandhi would take out a march from the party headquarters to the Prime Minister and submit a memorandum on the rising prices of urea and essential commodities and the Government's failure to respond, in Parliament, to the demands of almost all parties.

Karunakaran's view

PTI reports:

Mrs. Alva said the senior leader, Mr.K. Karunakaran's remark that the BJP was ``not untouchable'', was his ``personal opinion'' and asserted that the party would never have any sort of alliance with the BJP.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Next     : LTTE ban extension likely tomorrow