M A I N   N E W S

Pawar, Mulayam oppose George’s boycott
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13
The NDA-coalition received a shot in the arm when two former Defence Ministers Sharad Pawar and Mulayam Singh Yadav today criticised the Congress for stifling a debate on defence matters in Parliament for the past one-and-a-half years.

Addressing newspersons, BJP parliamentary party spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra today said both Mr Pawar and Mr Yadav had flayed the Congress over the issue when the party leaders met in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chambers.

“This is a slap on the face of the Congress as its effort to unite the Opposition have obviously met a serious setback,” he said.

He said Mr Pawar made clear that the Opposition did not want to condone corruption in any manner but the issue should be discussed and debated in the parliamentary forum.

But it was inappropriate to create a situation where debate became impossible, Mr Malhotra quoted Mr Pawar as saying.

The ruling of Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat that the Central Vigilance Commission was neither assigned nor did it give any report on procurements for Operation Vijay in Kargil vindicated the BJP and government’s stand on the issue, he added.