Press Breifing Monday, 11th Jan 2010

Shri Abhishek Singhvi addressed the media today.

On a question on Shashi Tharoor, Shri Abhishek Singhvi said that after the clarification, the matter stands closed. There is no need for any further comment on a comment. He has made a statement that he did not make a statement. We have explained and he has explained and I think the part of the issue lies with those who have projected as quotation marks. So you have to deal with that.

On the issue of the price rise with reference to the statement of Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri Singhvi said that we - the party and the Government are extremely concerned about price rise. We are all working towards it and we are trying our very best and for the few essential items of which there is an issue, we assure you that in the near future some results will be seen. Shri Singhvi further added that the concerned Minister has never said that he is not concerned about the price rise.

On the issue of Mamata Banerjee attacking the Congress on the price rise issue and the failure to contain the Maoists though her party is a coalition partner, Shri Singhvi said that there is no question of attacking Congress. The Congress itself is in hyper attack mode of prices. We are ourselves taking the strongest possible cognizance and taking action. We are all concerned collectively in the same coalition. Let us not try to score debating points on each other which we are not doing. Shri Singhvi further added that in the near future if the measures already taken do not start showing results, there are all possibilities open in terms of policy mix because it is a matter of very deep genuine concern for us.

Shri Singhvi further said that as far as Maoists attack is concerned, we do not want to sound complacent; we do not want to sound self congratulatory and we do not want to sound over confident in any manner but the fact of the matter is that the over the last 12 to 15 months, the national security has been considerably strengthened in terms of incident free, death free, liability free and casualty free.

On the issue of China claiming our territory as theirs as reported in the newspapers, Shri Singhvi said that he has not seen the report but further said that this is not the issue which has come up today, it is an issue which is pending for the lat 25-30 years. He further said that since there is no mapping there, inadvertently line is drawn in such a way that our territory is shown as theirs; we will have to verify those reports. If it has actually happened, appropriate action will be taken through proper channels.

On the issue of Gowda's foul language, Shri Singhvi said that let us be very clear on the Karnataka issue. The Congress party stands for a very strong vigilant opposition and we have never hesitated to condemn or criticize in the strongest possible manner the misrule, the shortcomings of the Government of the BJP in Karnataka and assured that we will continue to do so. Shri Singhvi further assured that we will never ever indulge or support the politics of insult, the politics of personal vilification and politics of personal abuse. So therefore, there are no two views as far as the Congress party is concerned. Any use of any such word has to be condemned. Indeed we find that the former Prime Minister has himself expressed regret and added that this should be a lesson to every political party. It does not matter who the party is. And that is why it is important for the BJP to also condemn in the same way and in the same words when several similar examples happened earlier. We condemn Mr. Gowda's words in case they were used.

On the question of statement of Victoria Police Chief with regard to violence on Indian students in Australia, Shri Singhvi said that his definition of safety and levels of safety needs to be reconsidered. To put in mildly, Shri Singhvi said that neither Australians in India nor Indians in India would feel secure and safe if incidents like the ones we have seen occur in Australia. This is not meant to engage in a verbal battle. It is meant to convey a very clear feeling that these are members of a society who contribute richly to that country and it is not from a position of weakness that any body begs for security. It is the constitutional obligation of Australia and its Government to provide security not only to Indians but to all visiting students.

Tom Vadakkan

Secretary, AICC