FLASH | Monday, November 23, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Govt leaked Liberhan report to divide a united opposition: BJP
PTI | New Delhi
BJP on Monday claimed "selective leaks" of the Liberhan Commission report to the media were planned and motivated, saying they had come at a time when the whole opposition was united against the government.
Claiming that the UPA government did not intend to table the full report as it indicts the then Congress government of P V Narasimha Rao, Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the Home Ministry leaked the report to divert attention from the issues being raised by a united opposition.
"This is a planned leak. It is a motivated leak. The first motivation for leaking the report is the unity in opposition on the sugarcane price issue which the government wanted to break. This unity would have continued on price rise and other issues," Swaraj said.
The senior BJP leader further alleged that the government wanted to divert attention from the opposition its plan of raising Madhu Koda and 2G Spectrum allocation scams in Parliament.
"Thirdly, the government wanted to influence the Jharkhand elections where the first phase of polling will be held on November 25," she said.
Swaraj argued that since there were just two copies of the report -- one with Justice M S Liberhan and the other with the Home Ministry "under lock and key" -- if the government did not come clear on how the report was leaked, BJP would directly allege that the report was leaked by the Home Ministry.
Swaraj said Home Minister P Chidambaram cannot evade government's responsibility by merely saying that leakage of the report was "unfortunate" as the incident showed contempt of Parliament.
In reply to a question on whether her party would agree to tabling of only the English version of Liberhan report, Swaraj said she would accept if the government gave an assurance that the Hindi version would be tabled soon.
Sources said the English version and the Action Taken Report of Liberhan Commission document were with the government while the Hindi translation was yet to be done.
Swaraj said BJP would not have demanded tabling of the report before the stipulated time had the leakage not taken place.
When asked about the opposition strategy tomorrow in Parliament, Swaraj said it would be decided in the Parliamentary Party meeting to be held in the morning.
"We are contemplating moving a Privilege Motion against the Home Minister on the issue," Swaraj said.
BJP said it was also "shocked and surprised" at the mention of its veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the report. However, Swaraj said a detailed reply on BJP's stand on the report and the demolition issue would be given only when the full report was tabled.
BJP President Rajnath Singh on Monday accused the Government of "selectively leaking" the Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid demolition to the media with the aim of "polarising" voters ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand.
"Keeping the upcoming elections in view, the UPA Government has selectively leaked the report to the media so that there is a polarisation of votes," he said here reacting to the reported findings of the Commission which is believed to have indicted senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and MM Joshi, among others, for the demolition.
"The selective leakage was intentional. A report of any commission is traditionally placed on the first day of the Parliament session. The Government could have placed it in the House in July as the Liberhan Commission report was given to the Government on June 30," he told reporters.
The BJP leader asked the Centre to explain how the report was leaked.
On the names of BJP leaders, including Vajpayee, featuring in the report, Singh said "the country admires Vajpayee's towering personality. Efforts are being made to tarnish his image just ahead of elections in Jharkhand, a State created by the BJP-led Government.
"The people will give a fitting reply as the BJP has never been communal," Singh said.
"Because of political rivalry, political and secular groups should not be defamed...I fail to understand why the Government is jeopardising peace in the nation for its political interests," he said. Singh said the manner in which the report was leaked has "saddened" the people.
"Top leaders like Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi being blamed together surely indicates a well-planned conspiracy," the BJP chief said.
"The Congress is the biggest communal party of the country. Inspite of the nation entering its 62nd year of freedom... The party has pursued its political interest by creating social discrimination. Whenever there is an election, the Congress always brings up an issue," Singh said.
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