Relations with Reddys out of mutual respect: Sushma

DHNS

New Delhi, 07 September 2010: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said here on Monday that she has not taken “a single paise” from Reddy brothers who are allegedly involved in illegal mining in Karnataka. 

 
In an informal interaction with a group of women journalists, the BJP leader, who was accused of protecting the Reddy brothers, said she had respect for them as they had completed her "unfinished task" by recovering Bellary from the Congress and winning it for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"I could not win from Bellary, but they did. They completed my unfinished task and captured the Congress stronghold for our party. That is why I respect them and they also respect me," Swaraj said.

It was due to the mutual respect that Swaraj spoke to them when the BJP Government in Karnataka was under threat.

"I do not know anything about their business. Even at the time of contesting elections I didn’t take a single penny as donation from them," she said.

 Swaraj also said that she had demanded in Parliament that iron ore export from India should be banned.

She claimed that the Congress was more concerned about losing Bellary to the BJP than about the Reddy brothers.

When asked whether Swaraj, as Leader of Opposition, would also be projected as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, she said that might be the case in the UK, but not in India.
When it was pointed out that L K Advani had earlier spoken about the natural ascension of the leader of the opposition to Prime Ministerial candidate, she quipped, "I am not Advani."

In her typical style, Swaraj also claimed that she was more accessible to leaders of other parties than her illustrious predecessor.

Claiming that there was no basic difference in the anti-Maoist strategy of her party and alliance partner Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Sushma Swaraj said the chief minister wanted to take action alongside talks for negotiation and the BJP approves it.

She also explained her disagreements with the government decision to select P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. She said the post of CVC should go to an official who had an “unblemished record”.

She also accused the UPA government of lacking the political will in distributing foodgrains to the poor as per Supreme Court’s instructions.   

She said the government should take lessons from Chattisgarh on how the public distribution system could work effectively.