Press
Briefing Monday, 11th January 2010
Shri
Abhishek Singhvi addressed the media today.
On a question on Shashi Tharoor, Shri Abhishek Singhvi
said that after the clarification, the matter stands
closed. There is no need for any further comment on a
comment. He has made a statement that he did not make a
statement. We have explained and he has explained and I
think the part of the issue lies with those who have
projected as quotation marks. So you have to deal with
that.
On the issue of the price rise with reference to the
statement of Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri Singhvi said that
we - the party and the Government are extremely
concerned about price rise. We are all working towards
it and we are trying our very best and for the few
essential items of which there is an issue, we assure
you that in the near future some results will be seen.
Shri Singhvi further added that the concerned Minister
has never said that he is not concerned about the price
rise.
On the issue of Mamata Banerjee attacking the Congress
on the price rise issue and the failure to contain the
Maoists though her party is a coalition partner, Shri
Singhvi said that there is no question of attacking
Congress. The Congress itself is in hyper attack mode of
prices. We are ourselves taking the strongest possible
cognizance and taking action. We are all concerned
collectively in the same coalition. Let us not try to
score debating points on each other which we are not
doing. Shri Singhvi further added that in the near
future if the measures already taken do not start
showing results, there are all possibilities open in
terms of policy mix because it is a matter of very deep
genuine concern for us.
Shri Singhvi further said that as far as Maoists attack
is concerned, we do not want to sound complacent; we do
not want to sound self congratulatory and we do not want
to sound over confident in any manner but the fact of
the matter is that the over the last 12 to 15 months,
the national security has been considerably strengthened
in terms of incident free, death free, liability free
and casualty free.
On the issue of China claiming our territory as theirs
as reported in the newspapers, Shri Singhvi said that he
has not seen the report but further said that this is
not the issue which has come up today, it is an issue
which is pending for the lat 25-30 years. He further
said that since there is no mapping there, inadvertently
line is drawn in such a way that our territory is shown
as theirs; we will have to verify those reports. If it
has actually happened, appropriate action will be taken
through proper channels.
On the issue of Gowda’s foul language, Shri Singhvi said
that let us be very clear on the Karnataka issue. The
Congress party stands for a very strong vigilant
opposition and we have never hesitated to condemn or
criticize in the strongest possible manner the misrule,
the shortcomings of the Government of the BJP in
Karnataka and assured that we will continue to do so.
Shri Singhvi further assured that we will never ever
indulge or support the politics of insult, the politics
of personal vilification and politics of personal abuse.
So therefore, there are no two views as far as the
Congress party is concerned. Any use of any such word
has to be condemned. Indeed we find that the former
Prime Minister has himself expressed regret and added
that this should be a lesson to every political party.
It does not matter who the party is. And that is why it
is important for the BJP to also condemn in the same way
and in the same words when several similar examples
happened earlier. We condemn Mr. Gowda’s words in case
they were used.
On the question of statement of Victoria Police Chief
with regard to violence on Indian students in Australia,
Shri Singhvi said that his definition of safety and
levels of safety needs to be reconsidered. To put in
mildly, Shri Singhvi said that neither Australians in
India nor Indians in India would feel secure and safe if
incidents like the ones we have seen occur in Australia.
This is not meant to engage in a verbal battle. It is
meant to convey a very clear feeling that these are
members of a society who contribute richly to that
country and it is not from a position of weakness that
any body begs for security. It is the constitutional
obligation of Australia and its Government to provide
security not only to Indians but to all visiting
students.
Tom Vadakkan
Secretary, AICC
