New Delhi: Voicing concern over the US assertion that the Bush administration played a crucial role in bringing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government to the negotiating table with Pakistan, Congress today (Jan 14, 2004) asked Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to explain to the nation the Secretary of State Colin Powell's claim.

"Vajpayee must stop beating about the bush and come clean," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

As a consistent advocate of constructive engagement with Pakistan, the Congress has always supported confidence-building measures, he said.

"While we have stood for talks, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has made a political career out of Pakistan-bashing," he said.

"Vajpayee has blown hot and cold over Pakistan, focused it would appear not so much on national security but on projecting himself now as furious hawk and again as a statesmanlike dove," Singhvhi said. "In doing so, he has done more than any other Prime Minister to undermine peace and security in the subcontinent."

"Given this track record of flip-flops, the Congress calls upon the Prime Minister to explain to the nation Powell's claim to credit for the emerging detente with Pakistan," he said.

During its tenure, the BJP has pushed NDA Government into a series of embarrassing flip-flops starting from the much-hyped bus journey to Lahore in 1999 and then coming full circle after the December 13 attack on Parliament, to the "intemperate" call by Vajpayee for a full-scale war ("aar paar ki ladai") and "the ill-considered and ultimately futile troop mobilisation", he added.