Jethmalani to form anti-NDA alliance

MUMBAI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi will now have an unlikely supporter in noted lawyer and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani. Jethmalani told TNN on Tuesday that he was networking with DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and trying to help form a grand alliance, against the "incompetent and corrupt" NDA government.The Congress would also be included in his alliance, he said.
Jethmalani plans to ask a series of 10 questions in each lot to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He had earlier used the same tool to embarrass the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "If nobody publishes my questions, I will buy newspaper space to publicise them. Vajpayee owes the nation an answer to each of these questions," he stated.
The questions are still being written, but are likely to deal with the telecom scam, Tehelka and other embarrassing events which have taken place in the recent past. He said the Rs 64-crore allegedly involved in the Bofors gun scam, appeared a "bird dropping" compared to the corruption indulged in by the Vajpayee ministry in the telecom case. "Over Rs 1,000 crore was handed over to cellular phone operators when they protested against the heavy concessions given to fixed line operators. Vajpayee had used the tax-payers'' money to buy peace with the cellular phone companies.
This needs to be exposed," he added. He also lashed out at Vajpayee for his handling of the Tehelka case. "He behaved worse than Indira Gandhi during the emergency and harrassed the Tehelka journalists and First Global personnel no end. His conduct was totally undemocratic and this needs to be exposed," he stated.
The noted legal expert said the issue of Sonia Gandhi''s foreign origin was not relevant at all. "In fact, it would be mean and foolish to raise this issue now," he emphasised. Jethmalani said his break with the BJP was prompted by its handling of the Babri masjid issue. "I was totally opposed to the demolition. Instead I am for the construction of an all-religion structure at the site."
Jethmalani said he had already alerted Vajpayee about his decision to shoot sharp questions at him.