New Delhi: Rejecting the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-led Opposition demand for removal of "tainted" ministers from his Government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Jun 30, 2004) said that the previous NDA (National Democratic Alliance) ministry also had several chargesheeted persons and "distinction" now sought to be made was not "tenable".

"This is not the first time that ministers who have been charged have held on to their portfolios. I think the previous Government itself had several (of them). Now making a difference between chargesheeted for one person and others.... I don't think it is a very tenable distinction," he told reporters at Rashtrapati Bhavan after the presentation of Padma awards by President A P J Abdul Kalam.

In a strong rebuttal of the Opposition stand, Singh said, "Well, I think, there are compulsions of coalition politics. People of India have given a verdict. You cannot deprive large sections of people they represented."

In an apparent reference to the disruption in the first session of the Lok Sabha, Singh hoped that "better sense" will prevail with the Opposition and that it will cooperate with the Government in orderly conduct of business of the two houses of Parliament.