Press Briefing Wednesday, 15th June 2011

Smt.Jayanthi Natarajan addressed the media today.

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan said I want to make a reference to the remarks just made by Mr. Nitin Gadkariabout Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi. I would like to strongly condemn the extremely derogatory remarks made by the BJP President against the Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Mr. Gadkari has reduced and dragged down the BJP to gutter level politics. Shri Gadkari, in his capacity as BJP President, has dragged the level of national discourse to the lowest common denominator. He is a person who is unfit at any level to be a player not just at the national but also of our democratic polity because of the venom and the lack of culture in his discourse. In the past, he has called opposition leaders ‘dogs’ and has made several other completely derogatory remarks which I will not dignify by repeating once again. To compare the noble sentiments of the Congress President and her resolve to fight corruption to terror in Pakistan shows the mind-set of Mr. Gadkari who comes from an ideology that preaches hatred, divisiveness and murder. This is the same ideology which led to the assassination of Mahatama Gandhi and the same ideology which has now led to the poisoning and death of Swami Nigmanand in Uttarakhand. The deafening silence of the national leadership of BJP and the on the poisoning and the fast and the death of Swami Nigmanand shows and exposes the total double standards of the BJP when they talk about corruption. Not a single word is said about the corruption, which has been repeatedly mentioned from this forum, in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh and even now the murder after the fasting of Swami Nigamanand in Uttarakhand and yet the BJP President, who has the honour to occupy a seat which was once occupied by a man who accepted bribe on camera Shri Bangaru Laxman, has the temerity to compare the Congress President, who having led our party to victory in the elections, did not accept the post of Prime Minister of India and was content to continue to render her services to the party and the people. He does not have the locus-standi to question the motives and the work of the Congress President and we demand an apology from the BJP for outrageous remarks made by the BJP President. The Congress party does not descend to the gutter level politics of BJP President and therefore, will not retaliate in a like manner but we demand that the BJP President should apologize for this comparison otherwise he would be unfit to play any role in a national political scenario.

To a question on the reaction of the Congress party on the statement of the BJP leaders on the death of Swami Nigamanand, Smt. Natarajan said Swami Nigamanand was poisoned. Even according to the present report, during the tenure of the present BJP government he was fasting for the last 115 days when as far as I know it was the BJP government that is in power in Uttarakhand and he was fasting to protest against the illegal mining at the Ganges near Rishikesh and Haridwar. This is part of the BJP selective amnesia. If they were saying last115 days it was the Congress government which was in power, then not just Mr.Nitin Gadkari, even the entire BJP requires help and memory lessons.

On another question whether CBI can take suo-moto start enquiry, Smt. Natarjan said I do not know if the CBI can take suo-moto note but the action of the Uttarakhand government in ordering a CB, CID enquiry is nothing but a white wash of the incident and the silence of the top BJP leadership and their refusal to condemn this death and the inaction of the Uttarakhand government which has allowed this to happen, speaks volumes.

To a question if Mr. Gopinath Munde is joining the Congress party, Smt. Natarajan said I am not aware if he has expressed any interest in joining the Congress party and if he does,it is up to our leadership to take a view on that.

On the question on the reaction of the Congress party over the statement of the BJP leaders that the Congress party is playing politics in the death of Swami Nigmanand, Smt.Natarajan said what BJP is telling is totally wrong.

On another question on agitation by Baba Ramdev being stage-managed by BJP but the BJP refusingvehemently, Smt. Natarajan said we have said from the beginning that Baba Ramdev was nothing more than a mask for the RSS forces and I have said last week from this same podium the Home Minister had said it before me that on 11thMay, the RSS Pratinidhi Sabha had nominated Baba Ramdev as their Chief Patron. The Akhil Bhariya Vidyarathi Parishad had nominated Baba Ramdev as their Chief Patron in the fight against corruption and therefore, we had said that it has always been the RSS who are behind the entire demonstration that was staged by Baba Ramdev which was meant to be a ‘yoga shivir’ which became a fast for black-money at the end of which he wore woman’s clothes and jumped down the stage, hired a helicopter and escaped from Delhi. This is clearly a RSS pattern more than anything else.

On the question on the reaction of the Congress party on the fact that pursuance to the questionnaire sent by Shri Pranab Mukherjee with regard to drafting the Lokpal Bill, the Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states, have stated that they will follow the government view in this regard, Smt. Natarajan said that they might be talking about the consensus view on the subject. I have not seen their reply.

On a further question that the central government did not take a view on the fast of Swami Nigmanand and allowed this to happen, Smt. Natarajan said our local leadership has been raising this issue time and again and it has been the media who did not highlight this fact. In fact, a delegation of our local leaders met the President of India against the corruption of Uttarakhand government before the death of Swami Nigmanand. Obviously, there is a cover up in Uttarakhand and matter.

On a question whether there is a difference of opinion on the black money issue within the government, Smt. Natarajan said that she is the spokesperson of the Congress party and not for the government, so she cannot comment on what is happening in the government.
To a further question on the statement of the BJP on 2G spectrum, Smt. Natarajan said if the BJP has any information on the issue, let them present the same before the JPC which is enquiring into the matter.

On the reaction of the Congress party on the statement of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on the Home Minister, Smt. Natarajan said Chief Minister has made a statement at the press conference. The Home Minister has replied and the Congress party has nothing further to add.

On the Telengana issue, Smt. Natarajan said this is an on-going issue and is in public domain for a very long time, there is a process and whatever grievances of those MPs will be addressed by the respective authorities who are concerned with this issue.
 

(Tom Vadakkan)
Secretary, AICC