Government not vulnerable, says Vajpayee

NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asserted that his government was not "instable" or "susceptible" to pressures from its allies and dismissed as ‘’mere rhetoric’’ the Opposition claim of providing an alternative if the BJP-led coalition fell under its ‘’own weight.’’

Had the Opposition been in a position to push out his government, it would have done so rather than wait for its fall, Mr Vajpayee said in an interview to Doordarshan.

Referring to a sense of instability created by demands of certain allies particularly the AIADMK, the Prime Minister said the issues raised by AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha were confined to her state and she had ‘’political compulsions’’ in raising them. He had made it clear to her that the Centre would not misuse Article 356 for dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, Mr Vajpayee told interviewer Rajat Sharma.

"We stick to this stand," he added.

Asked if the stand of Ms Jayalalitha did not spell threat to his government again and again, Mr Vajpayee said "absolutely not and I see no clouds hovering over my government."

The Prime Minister, however, said though the demands made by Ms Jayalalitha had not put constraints on the functioning of his government, these had definitely affected its image to some extent, however, the issues raised by her could not be altogether swept aside.

The interviewer reminded him that after Ms Jayalalitha had withheld her letter of support for the formation of his government to the President, he had asserted that he would not yield to pressures, but now as Prime Minister he appeared to be succumbing to such pressures.

The Prime Minister retorted "it is not so. You will not find any such examples. The accord on Cauvery waters dispute is a proof that we have done what was in the national interest and not under anybody’s pressure."

Asked what he could do to erase the perception that his government was facing constraints in functioning, Mr Vajpayee said his government had allayed such an impression while presentation of the Budget.

The entire world knew what kind of an economic situation his government had inherited and there were apprehensions that the government would not be able to present the Budget or at least a Budget that would remedy the situation, he said.

But all such apprehensions were proved baseless and his government presented a Budget which the Opposition could not find fault with for "quite a few days," he said. Of course they later made some critical comments, but "we welcome such criticism," he said.

Asked about the formation of Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha by the RJD and the Samajwadi Party leaders, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, to mobilise the Opposition to provide an alternative government, he said "I do not know what sort of vision they have in their minds. You have pointed out the difficulty in running the ruling coalition and I do not know what sort of coalition they would have and how that would function."

To a question about the reported perception in certain opposition quarters that he had reached a "secret deal" with Congress President Sonia Gandhi to stay in power, Mr Vajpayee said "there is no truth in it. There is no secret deal. Everything is above board."

He said the Congress had promised at the very beginning that it would offer a constructive criticism, but had not been steadfast in living up to that promise.

When the interviewer said the Congress had not tried to destabilise his government, he retorted the "Congress knows its limitations. First of all it is difficult to destabilise my government and even if it is pulled down, it would still be more difficult to provide an alternative. Overawed by such daunting prospects, the Congress is creating an impression that it does not want to topple the government."

Asked if his government had proved true to its election promise of providing an "able leader and stable government", Mr Vajpayee said "we have not completed even six months in office. Even children get six months for their term examinations. Why should the government’s performance be judged in such a short time. Election promises were made for a five-year term. Some of them we have been acted upon and on others, we are going to act.

"If a balance sheet is drawn, my government would not be in the red," he remarked.

To a remark that the first six months for a government were important as "a honeymoon period", Mr Vajpayee said the country had seen other governments, including coalition ones. "We have watched their performance during the first six months. What we have done during this short period has been much more popular".

Asked whether he was not worried over the fact that the news of impending "divorce" during the honeymoon period had got greater prominence in the media, he said "that is a different issue altogether and I do not blame the media for that. We get publicity for good work although that may not be displayed as prominently as it should be".

Citing an example, he said the way the government had withstood international pressure following the Pokhran nuclear tests was for the entire country to see. Whether this was properly projected in the media or not was known to the people at large, he said.

When the interviewer said he had been known over the years as an excellent communicator but ever since he became the Prime Minister, he seemed to be rather reticent and worried, Mr Vajpayee said "the complaint is valid, but at times silence is more eloquent than speech".

The Pokhran blasts were a pointer in this regard, he said, adding that for 40 to 45 years, he had spoken on the issue as an Opposition leader. But when the people gave him the mandate for governance, he felt it was time for deeds and not merely words. However, he agreed there could be continuous dialogue with the people in a democracy and this interview was a beginning.