Vajpayee a laibility: Cong

CHANDIGARH: Congress spokesman AshwaniKumar said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a nationalliability.Stating this here at a formally convened press conference,the party spokesman and member Rajya Sabha from Punjab, Kumar said that he wasreluctant to comment on individuals but the policies pursued by BJP, headed byVajpayee, is a liability to the nation.Kumar claimed that Congresswas still endeavouring hard to ensure that the "secular votes" are not dividedand the communal and fundamental forces represented by the BJP are given acrushing defeat.Though he failed to elaborate what more stepsCongress was likely to take to bring together the secular forces yet he said theefforts would continue till end and blamed others (secular forces) forpreventing the unity. He said the party president Sonia Gandhi had taken theinitiative of meeting the leaders like Ram Bilas Paswan and DMK leaders inSouth."It was also theresponsibility of secular forces other than Congress to respond to theparty’s overtures as it takes to two to make tango," hesaid.However, he ducked a question on if failure to have a unitedsecular front reflected on the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Kumaralleged that the issue of foreign origin, Bofors controversy, utterances oflikes of Togadia of VHP are part of well calculated strategy to deflect thefocus to non-issues during the heat of election campaign. Kumardefended fielding of Ram Jethmalani as the common opposition candidate againstVajpayee in Lucknow, claiming that his past should not stand against him. "Hehas reinvented himself. He has changed and I am convinced. It is like homecoming of a lost man in the evening," he asserted.