PM says Govt not apologetic on Patil nomination

In between answering questions on the distress in the agricultural sector (admitting that “we woke up late”) and diplomacy, he took a swipe at the opposition, particularly BJP.

On the candidature of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the Prime Minister said it was surprising that after spending his entire career in the BJP, the Vice-President was being fielded as an Independent. He said the language that former deputy prime minister L K Advani had been using for him was “unhealthy and not good for democracy”.

Among achievements of the UPA Government that he listed were an accelerated growth and economic progress; pace of ongoing dialogue with Pakistan on every possible front; and attempts to end India’s nuclear apartheid.

On the Indo-Pak relations, Singh said Pakistan and not India must take the onus for any slowing down of the pace of the dialogue. He, however, refrained from commenting on whether the present stand-off between the Pakistani Army and clerics reminded him of events preceding Operation Bluestar in Punjab.

When someone suggested that an erosion of popularity of US President George Bush was affecting the pace of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the PM said he would not comment on that now and that would wait for the outcome of discussions later this month when Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan would visit Washington.

Singh described the Right To Information Act as a “landmark legislation” but when questioned about the application filed under provisions of the Act on the appointment of the Foreign Secretary, he said, “Let me tell you that file does not exist.”

The Prime Minister also confirmed newspaper reports that he had intervened on the subject of appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts and said it was good that the media had been tracking appointment files, which President APJ Abdul Kalam returned to the Government.

He said after three years in office, the UPA Government would now focus on secondary and higher education and provision of colleges in every district in the country. He said a mega food security mission was set to be launched since problems such as drought and uncertain foodgrain production had plagued the country for far too long.

On the UPA’s experience of running a coalition Government with Left parties, Singh said he had never experienced a problem at arriving at a consensus during weekly Cabinet meetings chaired by him.

“ We have cohabited with them for three years and we expect a more cooperative attitude (in the next two years). The Congress is new to coalition politics and we are hopeful there will be a climate of cooperation in the future too.”