Thursday, December 29 2005 16:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: In remarks that ran counter to what L K Advani said in Parliament, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj today (Dec 29,2005) said that it was a matter of shame that some of the MPs, who were expelled in the wake of cash for query scam, belonged to her party.

"Our heads would have been held high had there been not a single MP from our party in the scam," she said initiating a discussion on the political resolution at the party's National Convention held in the backdrop of a series of scams that dented the party's image.

Advani, while speaking in the Lok Sabha on the issue, had suggested that what the expelled MPs did was an act of stupidity, though he had condemned it.

The drama 'Janata Raja' on Maratha emperor Shivaji's life which BJP delegates watched last night, figured prominently in Swaraj's speech.

She referred to the scene where Jijabai, Shivaji's mother says, "The first test of power is to keep away from temptation and self-interest."

This is after Shiavji's soldiers decline to accept gold coins offered to them by him.

"I don't know whether our watching the play in these times was a coincidence or divine intervention but time and again, we were introspecting," Swaraj said.

"Like Shivaji's soldiers, most of our soldiers have won this battle against greed and temptation but I regret to say that there are a few exceptions," she said.

In the resolution, the party has 'unreservedly expressed its regret over the involvement of some of its MPs in the scam.'