2G: PM hits back, says Oppn wants mid-term poll

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday accused the Opposition of attempting to force mid-term elections over the 2G controversy. But the Prime Minister said that he is confident that the UPA Government will complete its full term.

The Prime Minister, just ahead of landing in New Delhi from New York on Tuesday, attacked the Opposition, which has been on the offensive against the Government in the 2G scam.

Addressing a press conference onboard special Air India Aircraft while returning from his visit to New York via Frankfurt, Singh accused the Opposition of getting "prematurely restless" and asked them to be patient.

He said there was no dissent in his Cabinet in the context of the recent Finance Ministry note which suggested that P Chidambaram as the then Finance Minister had not done enough to ensure auction of 2G spectrum.

Singh admitted that there could be a problem of perception about his Government and there was a need to correct it.

"...I suspect there are other forces which want to destabilise our polity," he said when asked about an impression that the UPA-II government had lost the goodwill and momentum it had in its earlier 'avataar'.

Singh said in the UPA-I, there were newcomers and innovators as evidenced by the new flagship programmes they had brought.

"Now as far as the approval of UPA-II is concerned, the issues the government is accused of indulging in - 2G or something else - the Opposition thinks, should have happened before elections," Singh said.

"I think it has failed. They lost the elections and till then we have had this assembly (elections). The Congress party has been successful," the Prime Minister said.

"Therefore, I suspect there are other forces which want to destabilise our country," Singh said.

Singh said it was simply not about this crisis and that there were other issues that the government has to manage, like controlling inflation and "nothing should be done to weaken the fight".

Replying to a question about the Opposition, which appeared reasonable in the UPA-I, the Prime Minister said the Opposition is getting "prematurely restless".

"I have said this in Parliament that we have the mandate of the people to govern for five years and the Opposition should wait for two-and-a-half years.

"They have got some weak points of our government and think that (they) can force elections. This is not the way.

This government has the mandate for five years. It will stay its course and we will do so," he said.

The Prime Minister said "once this happens, and if we look behind (after completing the term), we would have surprised (everyone).

To a question on "growing perception" that the Ministers were fighting among themselves in the context of the 2G note, he said there were no differences among Ministers.

"I think the ministerial fight you are talking about (in the media), I am not aware of such thing," he said.

"We are a cohesive government. We shall give cohesive governance. There is no room for dissensions in my Cabinet," Singh said.

Having said this, the Prime Minister added that in the Cabinet, there are always debates with "an open mind".

"The Ministers have a different perspective. That does not amount to lacking cohesiveness. It always helps in taking decisions. There is nothing of the sort that the media has been writing about for the last few days," he said about the reported differences between Mukherjee and Chidambaram.

Asked whether he would give a clean chit to Chidambaram, the Prime Minister said he enjoyed his full confidence.

He said he had read the Finance Ministry note (of March 25) which was being set out as a blueprint.

"All these matters are now before the courts. And it is not appropriate for me to make a comment. These are also property of the people (under RTI)," Singh said.

Replying to a question whether he was thinking of a reshuffle, he said if one (reshuffle) has to be made, the journalists would come to know.

The BJP, however, countered the Prime Minister's mid-term elections statement by saying the Government is doing enough on its own to force mid-term elections.

"If there is a mid-term election it will be there own doing. Pranab babu and Chidambaram are in civil war - this is not our creation. Jaswant Singh can be interrogated, having no fault at all, but with Chidambaram, against whom there is voluminous evidence, the CBI inside the court and outside is saying we will not investigate him. And then the Prime Minister is saying he has my full confidence. That is the larger issue. We are not interested in mid-term polls. Whenever it will be held, people will take a call on it. But it is our right to expose this Government in this series of corruption and that we shall continue to do," said BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad.

The CBI on Tuesday remained reluctant to start a probe against Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying there was nothing new in the finance ministry note.

The Government also opposed any investigation against Chidambaram while making a point that the Supreme Court should stop monitoring the case as it was being heard in the trial court.

With twist and turns being obvious in the high-profile case, face-off between the CBI and the Government surfaced on Tuesday as the investigative agency clearly said that the Central Government should stop speaking on its behalf in the court and the question of looking into the new documents doesn't arise.

(With additional information from PTI)