Mandi: Hitting back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (May 8, 2004) asked her to make her party's position "clear" in the multi-crore Telgi stamp paper scam saying there could not be different yardsticks for judging corruption.

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"Today is the last day of electioneering and I want a reply. Gandhi should give the reply through the press," he said, addressing a massive rally at Paddal ground in Mandi.

In Congress ruled Maharashtra, one Deputy Chief Minister and senior police officers "have gone" in Telgi scam, but who has owned responsibility and "who are the big guns" involved, Vajpayee asked in an apparent reply to Gandhi, who has been accusing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government of indulging in corruption in the last five years.

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"We have collected all the facts and would place them before new Parliament if given a chance to reach there," he said.

Vajpayee said an inquiry was on, the matter was in the court and guilty persons would not be spared, but Gandhi must explain her party's position.

Taking strong exception to corruption charges levelled on the NDA Government by Gandhi, Vajpayee said it was very easy to make allegations but very difficult to prove them.

"Whenever corruption cases were brought to our notice we instituted inquiry," he said, adding "A commission is looking into charges against a senior leader from Himachal Pradesh."

Reacting to Gandhi's comments that the NDA Government had ruined the country, Vajpayee said, "She would not have been here if the country was ruined...perhaps Gandhi had no other word to use."

Seeking a decisive mandate, the Prime Minister said the big question today was whether "we need a stable, strong, lasting, effective and performing Government or instability".

He asked the people to rise above party lines to decide the fate of country and cautioned that division of votes would be an invitation to instability.