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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, JAN 1: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) today described as “most unfortunate” the sacking of Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for “failing” to explain reasons for his removal.
RJD General Secretary and former Union Minister Raghuvansh Pratap Singh told reporters here that the Government has dismissed Vishnu Bhagwat from services, like a “chaparasi” (peon).
Stating that the sacking of Bhagwat would demoralise the entire defence forces, Singh said the Prime Minister owed an explanation to the nation on the reasons for sacking.
Singh said the sacking of Bhagwat has “exposed the communal character” of the Vajpayee Government and put a question mark on the country’s security.“The morale of the force has gone down considerably due to this irrational and unprecedented decision,” he said.
Singh said “Vajpayee should tender his resignation, since he failed to remove Defence Minister George Fernandes in thisconnection”.
The RJD also said that efforts were on to form a “third force” in the country, as an alternative to BJP and Congress.
“There has been a positive response to our efforts to the move and something is likely to emerge by January 15,” Singh said.
He, however, refused to identify parties which were willing to join the proposed third front and said “we are in touch with leaders of various parties”.
He said the country was passing through a major crisis because of “bad governance” of the BJP-led coalition. He also accused the Vajpayee Government of “encouraging” communal forces to raise their ugly heads.
The attack on churches in Gujarat and clashes in Karnataka were glaring examples, he said and demanded stern action against those found guilty.
Singh also criticised the Congress for not taking a lead role in opposing the ruling coalition and said it was “content” with the outcome of the recent Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Referring to price rise,Singh said the country had lost a huge amount of Rs 30,000 crore, because of hike in the prices of onions, potatoes, edible oils and pulses.
