Combative PM calls Oppn 8216;bluff8217;

NEW DELHI, APRIL 28: In A speech that sounded very much like the launch of the BJP-led alliance's election campaign, a combative Prime Mi...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 28: In A speech that sounded very much like the launch of the BJP-led alliance8217;s election campaign, a combative Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today severely attacked the Opposition for the political impasse and called for adoption of the German model of governance.

8220;You have just seen that a government was removed without the sponsors of that move having worked out any alternative. Under the German Constitution, to remove a Chancellor the House has to vote confidence in another person. In the very act of removing one Chancellor, therefore, his successor is installed. This would be a small change in our system. But even such a small change would have prevented what the country is being put through,8221; Vajpayee observed in his address to the nation tonight.

The address clearly indicated that Vajpayee had the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in mind. He mounted a scathing attack on the Opposition for bringing down his Government without having any issue of 8220;any gravity8221;.

He alsosought to warn the people against the perils of frequent elections and urged them to rise above all considerations while deciding the country8217;s fate. 8220;Such episodes are ruinous for the country,8221; he asserted. 8220;The new election, as our Chief Election Commissioner has told us, will impose a burden of Rs 1000 crore on our people. In one week of instability, small investors lost Rs 50,000 crore. And now, till elections are held, no policy decisions can be taken though issues of great urgency are coming up every other week: our negotiations with other countries, our negotiations with international organisations, what we should be doing with regard to international treaties, decisions relating to the security of the country, decisions that directly affect your welfare.8221;

Vajpayee, through his speech, tried to project himself as a victim of a conspiracy launched by the opposition parties. 8220;There was no issue, whatsoever, for bringing down the Government. During the debate in the Lok Sabha, as well as outside,my colleagues and I asked repeatedly: What is the issue on which the Government is guilty of such misconduct that it should be brought down, that the country should be pushed into an abyss? I listened diligently to the debate as you would have for hours and hours. Not one new fact was brought out, not one issue of any gravity was raised to warrant what was being done,8221; he said.

8220;It was not an issue that propelled those who acted,8221; Vajpayee contended, 8220;it was calculation. A calculation that boomeranged.8221;

8220;When the debate began,8221; he observed, 8220;I asked, What is the alternative you have in mind? Who is going to lead the new government? Of whom shall that government consist?8217; My questions were scoffed at. We will provide the alternative in five minutes,8217; it was said. In one minute8217;, it was said. Seven days went by, and you saw what happened.8221;

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8220;We will tell the President what the alternative is, it was said, we will not tell you8217;. The President held meetings after meetings. And they could notspecify an alternative.8221;

Vajpayee claimed that his Government was working well, citing several achievements:

It was taking steps from which earlier governments had shied away for years 8212; steps to make India strong obviously referring to the Pokharan-II and Agni-II missile tests.

Even as the worst ever crisis struck economies of the South-East Asian countries, the Government took steps to insulate, to save the economy.

Having saved it from that typhoon, it took steps to make India prosperous.

The country was at peace.

Terrorism was thwarted.
8220;I sometimes wonder,8221; he mentioned, 8220;since there was no issue, was the fact that we were doing everything possible to make India strong and prosperous the reason the Government was brought down?8221;

He also sought to give a clean chit to the President. 8220;Friends, democracy rests on one belief. And that is: when the leaders of a country cannot solve their problems, the people will. That is why the President, after havingassessed all possibilities, decided, and the Cabinet concurred, that there was no solution to the current impasse except to come back to you,8221; Vajpayee said.

Reforms on the roll: PM
PM Vajpayee said a document on second-generation reforms will be brought out soon. Inaugurating the CII8217;s annual session, he said, 8220;Let me assure you that, even as a caretaker8217; Government, it will be my unflinching endeavour to take care of the needs of the economy.8221; On second-generation reforms, he pointed to five thrust areas: Elimination of red tape; rapidly taking the benefits of reform to neglected vital areas such as agriculture, agro-processing, small-scale industries and the unorganised sector; fashioning an 8220;appropriate strategy8221; in relation to the WTO; business fulfilling its social obligations; and a focus on the development of knowledge-based industries.

INDUSTRY FLAYSPOLITICOS, P-7