Cong Withdrew Support On Bofors: Pm

Prime Minister i k gujral yesterday said Congress withdrew support to his government fearing that the cover over the Bofors issue was about to be removed.

Referring to Sonia Gandhi daring the authorities to make the Bofors papers public, Gujral, without naming her, said it was to provoke me.

The Swiss authorities had told the uf government that they would not cooperate in further investigation if the papers were revealed.

Addressing a public meeting, the Prime Minister said Congress was scared that the uf government would spill the beans in the Bofors case following its inquiry last November.

It was strange the Congress had raised the Bofors issue now, he said adding everybody knows whose name will come out (regarding payoffs in Bofors deal).

 

He said during the election campaign the Congress was not saying why the uf government was pulled down. Launching an attack on the Congress, Gujral said Congress was involved in several scams and the country had to hang its head in shame.

In the current polls several persons facing criminal charges had been given Congress ticket to contest, he added.

The Prime minister also ridiculed the Congress saying the party was seeking apology for riots against Sikhs, corruption and emergency after several years.

He said his government tried to bring in the Lok Pal bill and the right to information bill but they could not be passed as the Congress did not allow Parliament to function.

Gujral said when the Congress threatened to withdraw support to his government on the dmk issue, he had written a letter to Congress president Sitaram Kesri to wait till the courts verdict. He pointed out that the 26 persons convicted by the special designated court on January 29 had no connection with the dmk.

If we had punished the dmk, there would have been a threat to the countrys unity and diversity. It would have dealt an emotional blow to the Tamil people, he said.

Gujral said uf government did not fall because we fought among ourselves. We used to resolve differences (among the uf constituents) amicably through discussion.

Listing the achievements of the uf government, he said nobody can point a finger towards me or Deve Gowda.