Restless Oppn trying to force early elections: PM

By V S Chandrasekar
On Board Air India One, Sep 27 (PTI) Taking the attack to
the Opposition, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday
night accused certain "forces" of trying to destabilise polity
and said that a "restless Opposition" was attempting to force
early elections.
He told journalists travelling with him on board Air
India One from New York back home that the Opposition had
found "some weak points" in his government and therefore, feel
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," an
assertive Singh said.
Admitting that there could be a problem of perception
about his government, he said there was a need to correct
that.
He then went on to add that he suspected that there were
"other forces", which he did not identify, who wanted to
"destabilise our polity".
Speaking in the backdrop of perceived differences between
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P
Chidambaram, Singh maintained that he was not aware of any
"ministerial fight" being talked about in the media.
His comments came at a time when he is seeking to put an
end to the controversy triggered by a Finance Ministry note
which suggested that Chidambaram as Finance Minister in 2008
should have insisted on auctioning of 2G spectrum, a failure
which led to the scam.
To a question on "growing perception" that the Ministers
were fighting among themselves in the context of the 2G note,
the Prime Minister 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.
Asked whether he would give a clean chit to Chidambaram,
he repeated, "he continues to enjoy my full confidence as
Finance Minister, he continues to enjoy my full confidence as
Home Minister and that applies to Mr (Pranab) Mukherjee as
well."
Rejecting talk about divisions within, he said, "We are a
cohesive government. We shall give cohesive governance. There
is no room for dissensions in my Cabinet."
Having said this, he 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 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
and Chidambaram.
With regard to the controversial note of the Finance
Ministry to the PMO, Singh said he had read it and it was
being set out as record.
"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 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.