Friday, May 6 2005 08:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday (May 5, 2005) charged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with "hiding more than revealing" while hitting back at the Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Parliament and said that the ruling United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) "petty minded approach" was "adding insult to injury".

"The Prime Minister's statement hid more than it revealed. We had informed them of our intention to stage a walkout instead of stalling the proceedings on April 26 but the leader of Opposition was not allowed to speak and as the NDA members walked out, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad made speeches against us," BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj told reporters.

"Who broke the understanding?" she asked and reiterated that the Prime Minister's telephone calls to leaders of Opposition in both Houses was a "mere formality".

"He did not ask about our grievances or gave any assurance that we will be allowed to speak. He merely said to end the boycott and return. There was neither any solution nor any assurances," she said.

Renewing his appeal to the Opposition to end the boycott, the Prime Minister had earlier in the day hit back at the BJP-led NDA, saying the country should know that there was a "world of difference" between what they say and what they do.

Sushma pointed out that Singh did not refer to statements of Congress General Secretary Ambika Soni and other Congress leaders that NDA members were "publicly boycotting Parliament as also claiming allowances", which was not true as its nominated member Dara Singh was on leave and Dara Singh Chauhan, an MP, who signed the register was not part of NDA.

Taking strong exception to a Congress MP's reported statement that NDA MPs were not only claiming allowances but also "eating food" inside the Central Hall, Sushma said, "Central Hall is not anybody's personal property. This shows their petty minded approach. We don't need anybody's permission to enter Parliament."

Justifying the boycott as an "acceptable mode of protest", she said the ruling coalition's "Emergency mindset was adding insult to injury".

Commenting on the Prime Minister's description as "totally false" the accusation that Government had attempted to prevail upon Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during his last month's visit to New Delhi not to see NDA chairperson Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she said the alliance in its memorandum to President A P J Abdul Kalam had clearly stated that it was a "reported attempt".

"It was a report published in a Delhi-based daily. The Government should have reacted then," Sushma said.

The BJP leader also reminded the Prime Minister that as leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, he himself had led a boycott of the House from August 14, 2003 to August 22, 2003.