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Journalism of Courage
The rift between the Samajwadi Party SP and the Congress became wider today when SP general secretary Amar Singh threatened never to step into 10 Janpath again. In the same breath, he warned the Congress to keep away from 8216;8216;vindictive politics8217;8217;, referring to the party8217;s demand for a trial against former Defence minister George Fernandes.
The SP, he said, was 8216;8216;not captive8217;8217; to any party and will not hesitate to criticise the Government. The press meet marked a return from exile of sorts for Amar Singh since the dinner party hosted by Sonia Gandhi where he, allegedly, gatecrashed. 8216;8216;I have decided never to step into 10 Janpath again,8217;8217; he said. The Congress should also have exhibited 8216;8216;some manners when accepting the SP8217;s hand of friendship8217;8217;, Singh added, pointing that despite SP8217;s 37 MPs supporting it, Congress had not even had the 8216;8216;courtesy8217;8217; to show it a draft of the CMP.
Reiterating his support to Fernandes, who is facing several charges from the Tehelka case to the coffin scam, Amar Singh said: 8216;8216;It does not augur well for this government that some ministers are making statements which smack of vindictive politics.8217;8217;
Singh was responding to Union Minister Kapil Sibal8217;s statement that the inquiry into the Tehelka expose during the NDA rule should be proceeded with transparency and the Babri demolition case, from which BJP leader L.K. Advani was 8216;8216;rescued8217;8217; by the CBI, should be 8216;8216;put back on the rails8217;8217;.
That Singh is still smarting from the Congress snub was evident when he pointed out that it was SP, and not Congress, which had wiped out the BJP in UP. 8216;8216;The SP defeated all Hindutva stalwarts in UP, and reduced BJP8217;s tally to 10 seats. And despite Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka8217;s presence, the Congress vote percentage fell from 15 to 12 per cent, and the party got a lesser number of seats.8217;8217;
He also dismissed reports that his party8217;s partner, Ajit Singh and his RLD, were moving to the Congress. He also announced the names of the party8217;s leaders in Parliament8212;Ram Gopal Yadav as party leader in the Lok Sabha and Jyaneshwar Mishra as leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha.
