New Delhi, April 05: Asserting that UPA is not
disintegrating, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee
on Sunday said that it "was very much intact" while at the same
time the NDA is breaking.
Addressing a press conference here, Mukherjee said, "UPA
is not a political entity and it is very much intact... it is
not disintegrating.”
The veteran Congress leader said even though there were
hiccups in seat sharing talks between Congress and its
alliance partners like Samajwadi Party and RJD in UP and Bihar
respectively, the alliance was still in place.
"During their press conference held recently in Lucknow,
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and LJP
leader Ram Vilas Paswan, have reiterated their support to UPA.
Therefore it is not disintegrating," Mukherjee said.
He added that at the same time, Mamata Banerjee`s
Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal and Telugu Desam Party,
all these have left the NDA, which is breaking.
"Sonia Gandhi as chairperson of UPA is coordinating at
her level while I as floor leader in Lok Sabha, am trying to
coordinate with other floor leaders in both Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha, to strengthen the UPA," Mukherjee said.
"Development of rural infrastructure through Bharat
Nirman has been achieved successfully... there is a difference
between performance and commitment, Mukherjee said.
Referring to BJP`s 2004 "India Shining" election
campaign, he said that "though we are not using terms like
`India Shining`, we have been successful.”
Pranab disapproves of outbursts by Singh, Alva
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday disapproved of public expression of unhappiness by party leaders Arjun Singh and Margaret Alva over denial of tickets to their children.
"I think party issues should be sorted out in party fora," Mukherjee told reporters at the AICC headquarters here when asked about what his advise will be to Singh who had yesterday expressed disappointment over denial of party ticket to his children.
Singh had yesterday said that he cannot say he was not unhappy over the denial of tickets to his daughter Beena Singh from Sidhi and son Ajeya Singh from Satna, both in Madhya Pradesh.
Mukherjee said this was also his advice to Alva whose raising the issue of denial of ticket to her son in Karnataka Assembly polls had triggered a controversy recently.
Mukherjee was critical of BJP leader Varun Gandhi for his provocative comments.
"No political activist should say anything or do anything which has potential of dividing the country," the Congress leader said.
On the issue of a separate Telangana, he said the Congress stands by the resolution of the Andhra Pradesh assembly and the Congress party, which has majority, calling for appointment of a committee to go into the issue.
Bureau Report
