Faced with the charge that the government is misusing the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) in the Sohrabuddin case, prime minister Manmohan Singh went on the offensive on Monday, making it clear to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he won’t buckle under pressure.
Interacting with reporters at Parliament House, he said the opposition “knows it jolly well” that there is no truth in its charge.
“This Sohrabuddin case is a Supreme Court-directed investigation. The central government has no hand in it.”
A confident prime minister expressed hope that the monsoon session would be peaceful and productive. “We want this Parliament to function smoothly. That is what the people of India expect,” he said, adding, “We have important pieces of legislation coming up.’’
The prime minister walked briskly, shook hands and showed no signs of the tiredness that had forced him to skip the speaker’s lunch on Sunday.
He participated in both houses of parliament and held meetings with cabinet colleagues, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Surprisingly, the BJP maintained a low-profile and its attack on the government on the Amit Shah’s issue looked subdued. Shah, Gujarat’s minister of state for home, has been arrested by the CBI on the charge of conspiracy in the Sohrabuddin murder.
The party wanted to force the government to accept a debate on the price rise instead. But the Left parties maintained a studied silence and gave an indication that irrespective of the common plank of price rise, they are not willing to do business with the BJP.
