'We can't be pushed around'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, pronounced himself a ``deshbhakt'' (patriot) who ``did not need a certificate from anyone''. Simultaneously, he made it clear that he will not allow the Opposition to be successful in its game of trying to push out his Government which enjoyed a majority in Parliament.

Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary party this morning, he told the MPs that the issue of corruption had been raised by the Opposition to try and come to power. They had also tried to create cracks within the National Democratic Alliance, but failed.

However, as he made these claims, the fact of the Trinamool Congress having left the NDA is before the public; and today the Shiv Sena chief, Mr. Bal Thackeray, another key ally, made an indirect attack on the Prime Minister himself. In an editorial in Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, he demanded the ouster of the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, and also indicted his foster son-in-law, Mr. Ranjan Bhattacharya, alleging a role by him in corrupt deals.

But the parliamentary party meeting ignored these barbs from within the NDA and concentrated on the task of warding off the attacks from the Opposition. Mr. Vajpayee was critical of the Opposition for stalling Parliament and refusing to use any of the parliamentary procedures available to express its disapproval.

Asserting that his Government would last its five-year term, Mr. Vajpayee said that after the completion of his tenure, the ``people will decide'' and ``they will express their view'' when the next Lok Sabha election takes place.

Besides Mr. Vajpayee, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, and the new Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, addressed the MPs. Mr. Singh, who was closely associated with raising questions about the Rajiv Gandhi government's Bofors deal, today suggested, in relation to the Tehelka exposures, that ``questioning defence deals is not in the national interest''. He defended the Sukhoi- 30, Barak missiles and T-90 tanks deals.

It was left to Mr. Advani to tell the MPs not to allow their morale to sag. After all, Mr. Bangaru Laxman had resigned as party president. The meaning of Mr. Advani's message seemed to be that the MPs could stand before the people and claim that their party was clean without fear of any of the Tehelka mud having got stuck on their clothes and faces.

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