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Vajpayee comes within ambit of Parrikar's 'compromise' charge: Congress MP
Former prime minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee comes within the ambit of Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar's charge that some former PMs had compromised "deep assets of
national security", Goa's lone Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik of the
Congress said here Saturday.
In a statement, Naik also said that
Parrikar's statement had "embarrassed all ex-prime ministers and has
made a mockery of our national security".
"Since Parrikar has not
revealed the names ex-PMs, it obviously includes the name of Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, and therefore, since Parrikar has already committed a
blunder, he has now to find an escape route at least to save the face of
his own party and avoid the ire of his own party," the statement said.
Vajpayee,
one of Bharatiya Janata Party's tallest leaders, headed the National
Democratic Alliance government and was prime minister from 1998 to 2004.
He is no longer in public life due to his ill-health over the years.
"You
have to build deep assets. Deep assets are created over 20-30 years.
Sadly, there were some prime ministers who compromised deep assets,"
Parrikar had said.
The defence minister while speaking at a
function in Mumbai Friday had also said that he would not disclose names
of the PMs who compromised national security.
Naik now claims
that the former Goa chief minister's statement had not only embarrassed
all former PMs, but also proved that Parrikar was not "fit to handle a
sensitive portfolio like the defence".
"Parrikar by refusing to
disclose any names, has embarrassed all ex-prime ministers and, has made
a mockery of our national security , while at the same time , playing
into the hands our enemies," Naik said.