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TDP keeps away from NDA rally

The National Democratic Alliance organised an impressive rally at the sprawling Nizam College grounds in the city on Wednesday evening, with Union Home Minister L K Advani and former defence minister George Fernandes leading a frontal attack on parties seeking to capitalise on the tehelka expose.

However, their firepower lacked punch as the ruling Telugu Desam Party leadership stayed away from the show, in keeping with its policy of not sharing the dais with NDA leaders since the TDP is neither a participant in the Vajpayee Government nor a constituent of the NDA.

The TDP, which extends only "issue-based" support to the BJP-led NDA coalition Government from "outside", thinks that the tehelka fall-out is not "its baby" but it concerns only NDA constituents.

Incidentally, this was first of a series of rallies planned by the NDA in various cities in Andhra Pradesh -- the home state of former BJP president Bangaru Laxman who had quit his post for accepting Rs 100,000 from the tehelka team posing as defence agents.

Hyderabad is the native city of Laxman. He had quit his job in the Accountant General's office in 1969 and joined the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the earlier avatar of the BJP).

The main Opposition Congress ensured a "hot reception" for the NDA leaders when they landed at Hyderabad airport in the morning, by organising a noisy demonstration. The police chased Congress leaders and workers who tried to gherao the NDA leaders. The agitators shouted slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and denouncing the NDA Government.

Scores of Congress activists were rounded up. The city police made elaborate security arrangements at the airport, the rally venue and other places.

But it was the "cold reception" from TDP leaders that caused some consternation to Advani, Fernandes and others. Nobody from the TDP showed up at the airport to receive them. And, perhaps aware of the TDP's indifferent attitude, Advani and Fernandes spent a better part of the day at the Ramoji Film City on the city's outskirts.

From the airport, the two leaders and their entourage flew to the RFC in a chopper and returned to the city in the evening.

After a brief stay at the Lake View guesthouse, the two leaders proceeded to the rally venue.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's official engagements for the day showed that he had no time for the "VVIPs" who came to the city for the rally.

At the RFC, Advani and Fernandes had a tete-a-tete with Andhra Pradesh's media moghul Ramoji Rao, whose media empire includes Eenadu (a leading Telugu daily), ETV (a leading Telugu TV channel) and the sprawling one-stop cine studios RFC. As the man widely respected by Chandrababu Naidu, Ramoji Rao can be considered the "king-maker behind the king-maker".

The rally's objective was to explain the NDA's collective stand on the tehelka expose and to ward off Opposition propaganda against Vajpayee Government on the "defence deal scam".

Those sharing the dais with Advani and Fernandes included Union ministers from the state, state BJP functionaries, MPs and MLAs, and leaders of some NDA constituents.

At the rally, Advani asserted that the government was committed to provide good governance and ensure national security even though the Congress and other Opposition parties were seeking to exploit the tehelka tapes controversy for their political ends.

Advani was apparently impressed by the huge turnout at the meeting. Stating that this was the third such rally in southern India, after the meetings at Kochi and Tiruchi, he said that earlier rallies attracted large crowds in the wake of polls in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, the impressive gathering in Andhra Pradesh indicated that the people wanted to know why the NDA was being attacked by the Congress and other parties on the tapes issue.

He felt that the controversy was unnecessary as the Congress could have nominated Sonia Gandhi as the Opposition spokesperson to participate in a debate with Fernandes on the tapes issue. She sought time on Doordarshan but later backed out for inexplicable reasons, he pointed out.

Advani said that the NDA had drawn up the national agenda of governance soon after the Vajpayee government took office on March 19, 1998. The Vajpayee regime had given its commitment to the people to make India achieve nuclear deterrence since neighbouring countries had nuclear capability. Within two months, the country conducted nuclear tests that conveyed to the world India's nuclear capability.

The Congress, however, sounded a discordant note at that time.

He said that the country had "swaraj" for 50 years since Independence but it did not have good governance.

''The Vajpayee government gave a commitment to provide su-raj (good governance). It was the Congress that throttled democracy in the country by imposing Emergency in 1975. It demonstrated that the Congress had no faith in democracy. The Congress believed in dynastic rule and accountability was alien to it.''

"We were in the Opposition for long. Whenever allegations of corruption surfaced, we used to mount pressure on the government to order an inquiry. When the Bofors gun deal scam surfaced during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure, we raised the issue in Parliament and demanded a statement from the government, a debate in Parliament and an enquiry by a judge. But the Congress rejected all the three demands," he pointed out.

The Union home minister said that when the NDA government was ready to make a statement, allow a debate and order a judicial enquiry into the tehelka tapes issue, Opposition parties stalled Parliament for two weeks. "In my 30 years in Parliament, I have never seen such conduct in the House," he quipped.

The tehelka tapes, he said, proved that NDA was committed to democracy whereas the Opposition was only interested in grabbing power by hook or by crook.

''On the day the controversy surfaced, Vajpayee called a cabinet meeting and said that the tapes showed a defect in the system and announced that he was ready for a probe. Even though no allegations were made against Fernandes, he quit his post. Since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's time, many scams surfaced under successive Congress prime ministers, but the Union ministers did not resign or order proper enquiries. The Vajpayee government was committed to provide an honest government which also took utmost care of national security,'' Advani said.

Fernandes said that ever since he took over as defence minister, his entire effort was to stop middlemen from having a say in defence deals. His effort was to reduce imports and encourage self-reliance through manufacture of defence equipment and weaponry indigenously, he claimed.

"I sent the 500 files pertaining to defence purchases worth Rs 75 crore and more from 1989 onwards to the Central Vigilance Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India for scrutiny. I also knew that these middlemen will hit back at me and target me. The tehelka tapes are the fall-out," he pointed out.

The former defence minister said that he read the transcript of the tapes but did not see the video since he did not have a TV at home. "The contents (of the tapes) are a white lie. I was ready for a debate. Those who stand by truth are ready for debate but those who rely on untruth are running away. In course of time, truth will come out. Truth shall prevail," he said and regretted that the tapes, whatever be their credibility, caused immense damage to the country and its image.

The Complete Coverage: The Great Defence Scandal

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