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Sunday, Aug 01, 2004

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International

Previous Government too had charge-sheeted Ministers: PM

By K. Venugopal

GROUP INITIATIVE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife with the Heads of States of the member countries of the BIMST-EC at a dinner hosted by the Thailand Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra (fourth from left with his wife to his left), in Bangkok on Friday. Others (from left) are: Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh, Lyenpo Jigmi Y. Thinley of Bhutan, Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka, Khin Nyunt of Myanmar and Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepal with his wife. — PTI

BANGKOK, JULY 31. THE Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today explained the rationale behind his Government having Ministers who had been charge-sheeted.

At a press conference held at the end of the BIMSTEC summit here, Dr Singh said: "In public life, the best should not become the enemy of good." "We are in an era of coalition politics. The people's mandate was in favour of the coalition in which the RJD and the JMM played a significant part."

"If we had not [formed the coalition], it would have meant handing over the reins of power to the BJP. In this situation, it was the only viable option for us."

He made a pointed reference to the fact that the previous Government too had a number of charge-sheeted Ministers. They want to make a distinction between those charge-sheeted for criminal acts, and those charge-sheeted on other counts. He saw no merit in that.

Why the distinction?

Dr. Singh said: "If you lead a large mob of people and get away by saying that this is a political crime, then we need to have a discussion on what constitutes a criminal act, and who is a criminal. If you incite a mob that leads to the death of hundreds of people and if you say that is a political crime, it is a sad reflection on politics."

He retained his sense of humour at the end of a day packed with speeches and bilateral talks. Asked by his staff if he needed to have a wash before he took his flight back, he shot back, "Does the lion ever brush its teeth?"

Asked whether the Government was preparing for the evacuation of Indians in Iraq, the National Security Adviser, J.N. Dixit said that "we are aware of the situation. If the situation arises requiring the possibility, the preparations are made. There is, however, no need to panic now."

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