Cong., BJP in war of words

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 22. Hours after the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, formally announced in Parliament the Government's intention to extend the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir by three more months, the BJP and the Congress were engaged in a war of words.

The BJP spokesperson, Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, sought to use the protests of Congress MPs from Punjab to embarrass the main Opposition party. Led by Mr. Jagmeet Singh Barar, Congress MPs Mr. Avtar Singh Bhadana, Ms. Santokh Chaudhray and Ms. Praneet Kaur, raised a ruckus during the Prime Minister's statement in the Lok Sabha contesting his claims that the ceasefire had paid rich dividends as far as the ground situation in the State was concerned. The MPs pointedly referred to the killing of the Sikhs and Gujjars and demanded greater security for them.

However, Mr. Malhotra in his briefing sought to put the Congress in the dock by claiming that the main Opposition party was adopting a posture in the House and different from the one it had taken at yesterday's all-party meeting. ``I cannot understand why the Congress MPs were opposing the ceasefire in the House,'' he wondered.

Lauding the Prime Minister for his initiative, Mr. Malhotra pointed out that Mr. Vajpayee had warned both Pakistan and the militants not to test the Government's patience. He also said the decision to extend the ceasefire was taken in response to the desire of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and not under pressure from anybody.

The Congress, on the other hand, made it clear that the party had decided to support the extension because it believed in giving the ``Government a fair opportunity''. The deputy leader of the party, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, demanded a discussion in the House on the issue, while party spokesperson, Mr. Jaipal Reddy, qualified the party's decision to extend support to the move. ``The ceasefire was a considered assessment of the Government'' and his party had gone along.

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