The Hindu : New Delhi News : `He brought some chairs, claims he made the house'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

`He brought some chairs, claims he made the house'

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 26. Accusing the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government of riding on the achievements of the Congress, the party's spokesperson, Kapil Sibal, today asserted that "Mr. Vajpayee will not become the Prime Minister in the 14th Lok Sabha. We will ensure that he gets to sit in the seat that he is well accustomed to".

While charging that Indian political leaders were moving away from the basic issues concerning people, Mr. Sibal, who is the Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha from the Chandni Chowk constitutency here, also ridiculed the "India Shining" campaign. "The problems faced by the people are common everywhere. They talk of India Shining and Bharat Uday. But till the basic issues are sorted out, Bharat Uday cannot happen in the country," he said, adding that "had Mr. Vajpayee come with me to the lanes of Chandni Chowk, Mr. Advani would not have taken out the Uday Yatra."

On the issue of the NDA's achievements in the past five years, the Congress spokesperson said the Government was actually trying to hijack its achievements. "They have been saying that things have changed in the last five years. Did they build the dams? Was the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set up by them? Were they the one to put the satellites in orbit or bring in the green revolution? The country's literacy level was 18 per cent at the time of freedom, did they bring about all the increase?" Mr. Sibal questioned.

The Congress spokesperson further went on to assert that "every building has a foundation. We laid that foundation and built the house over the years. And now Mr. Vajpayee has come and put up some furniture in it and is claiming that he made the house."

Asked about the results of the exit polls, Mr. Sibal maintained that the party was against it, but at the same time claimed that the coming days would see the figures change. "The recent poll gives them 260 seats. In another week, it will be down to 200 seats and by May 8, the exit polls would be showing less than 200. The figures are only going to go down from here."

Mr. Sibal said the BJP had ensured a victory for him in the election from Chandni Chowk by fielding an "inexperienced" Smriti Irani. "I wish they had put up a more serious candidate from this constituency," he said.

Brushing aside Smriti's popularity among women, Mr. Sibal said: "The public is not that stupid. I don't see any such effect of her on the people. She has no experience in politics. In any case, the Congress MLA, Anjali Rai, has been working here with the women at the grassroots level. The women will go by what they have seen her doing and not what a new person will do for them."

"The support received by us has been immense and the public has assured me of a victory. I have told the people that as of now I am their client and they my lawyers who will fight the case during the elections. In case I am elected, they will once again become my clients and I their lawyer," Mr.Sibal said.

Asked about Congress attempts to woo Shoaib Iqbal of the Janata Dal (S) to ensure Muslim votes for the party, the Congress leader said: "I want the Hindus also to side with me, just as I want the churches and gurdwaras as well as the Jains to side with me. And they all are supporting the Congress," he asserted.

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