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Journalism of Courage
The BJP on Monday forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to admit an error of judgement in the appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner,but ironically the admission once again exposed the rift within the top brass of the party which has been divided on how it wants to press the government further on this issue.
The two distinct views represented by Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were once again visible. While Swaraj appeared satisfied with Singhs statement her party MPs neither protested nor walked out like the Left members the BJP officially later said the PMs explanation read like a calendar of events and declared that it would seek clarifications from him in Rajya Sabha.
Sources,however,indicated that the stand taken by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was likely to prevail.
The BJP,they said,is unlikely to persist with its attack on the Prime Minister after posing some clarifications to him in the Upper House. Significantly,after the PMs statement on Monday,L K Advani held a meeting with Swaraj and Jaitley also attended by some other leaders from both the Houses.
As he had promised last week,after the Supreme Court struck down the appointment of Thomas as CVC,the Prime Minister made a statement in Lok Sabha but it did not contain the admission of error. That prompted Swaraj to remind Singh that he had,over the weekend in Jammu,said he accepted full responsibility for the decision. She said it would be proper for him to restate that on the floor of the House.
The Prime Minister said he had no problems in acknowledging his responsibility once again. I have no hesitation in repeating what I said in Jammu. Obviously,there was an error of judgement. I accept full responsibility for it, Singh said.
While that satisfied Sushma and her party MPs in Lok Sabha,the Left parties staged a walkout. In fact,Swarajs nudge to the PM to restate what he had said in Jammu itself came after CPMs Basudev Acharia stood up and argued that the statement was not satisfactory and asked Singh to explain how the decision had been arrived at.
The divisions within the BJP surfaced soon with the party suggesting that Singhs statement was not the end of the issue. Partys deputy leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said the government could not just get away by accepting responsibility.
He said the party would definitely seek clarifications from the Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha,something that the party could not do in Lok Sabha because the rules do not permit it in the Lower House.
