‘BJP biggest rumour mill in India’

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi

July 17: "The BJP is the biggest rumour mill in India," parliamentary affairs minister Vayalar Ravi said here on Thursday while commenting on a query that the Congress MPs in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and other states are in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

He claimed that the UPA "house is intact" and it will pass the July 22 floor test in the Lok Sabha comfortably but did not explain how the ruling coalition is going to get numbers without compromises and "give and take" formula.

He dismissed speculation that the BJP was poaching its MPs, especially in Karnataka.

Launching a frontal attack against the Opposition BJP, the Congress, meanwhile, alleged that the "brokers" of the party are roaming around to ensure support for the NDA during the trust vote.

"The brokers of the BJP, trained by a former minister who is no more, have become proactive before the trust vote," Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari alleged.

Asked whether the Congress too was adopting questionable methods to win the support of MPs, Mr Tiwari refuted the charges and attacked the BJP. "This is a party whose ethics are defined by one of its national presidents accepting money on national television. In Karnataka, they are adopting all means to secure the support of rival MLAs," said Mr Tiwari.

In reply to a question whether the Congress was "comfortable" taking the support of MPs with a criminal background and those in jail, Mr Tiwari said these MPs would be exercising their constitutional rights.

Asked if the clean image of the Prime Minister would get a dent following the support of the tainted MPs, Mr Tiwari said, "There will be no impact on his image."

Meanwhile, JMM supremo and Shibu Soren is giving anxious moments to the UPA government as the stand of its five Lok Sabha members on the trust vote is still a closely guarded secret.