'BJP in a hurry over disinvestment'

By Our Staff Correspondent

SHIMLA, APRIL 7. ``The Bharatiya Janata Party is spreading the wrong message that they are continuing our economic policies and it was we who signed the WTO agreement,'' said Mr. Anand Sharma, National Congress spokesman, at a press conference here today.

``The BJP Government seems to be in a hurry to sell out everything, whereas there is no need to sell profit-making public sector units,'' he said. They are taking the country from disinvestment to privatisation with a total lack of transparency in their deals, he alleged.

No one is sure how to use the money coming from this type of liberalisation process. It is meant to create some strong capital assets and not to clear the debts only, the spokesman said, while calling the overall scenario as ``very frightening''.

Bashing the BJP on the Tehelka tape infamy, Mr. Sharma said this government has failed twice on the national security issue, earlier on Kargil and now on the defence deals. It is unfortunate that no criminal investigation has been ordered so far, and the Prime Minister who talks of his ``voice of inner conscience'' has not heard it this time, he said.

If there was nothing in this scandal then why had the Union Defence Minister and BJP and Samata Party presidents resigned, he asked. The NDA has forged an opportunistic alliance which now stands exposed and it has already started disintegrating, Mr. Sharma said.

Commenting on the parallel rallies conducted regularly by the two Congress factions in the State, he said there may be some misunderstandings but then it is the essence of democracy. Supporters of Mrs. Vidya Stokes and Mr. Virbhadra Singh are not against each other but only exposing the BJP's corrupt government, he said while denying any division in the State Congress party.

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