By IANS,
New Delhi : Does following a coalition dharma mean going against the constitution and the people’s aspirations? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, under attack for his statement on the pressures of coalition politics, responded by saying Friday that whatever he had said did not contradict constitutional mandates.
“Whatever I may have said about coalition dharma I think should not in any way convey the impression that I am not in favour of following strictly the dictates of our constitution,” Manmohan Singh said at the India Today Conclave, responding to a question on whether following a coalition dharma was against following the constitution and the people’s aspirations.
“It goes without saying all of us are bound to follow the constitution of the country, and therefore nothing that I have said is inconsistent with following the dictates of our constitution. I have taken an oath to defend the constitution and law of our country,” he said.
The prime minister, in an interaction with editors last month, had cited the compulsion of coalition politics behind A. Raja continuing as communications minister.
“In a coalition government you can suggest your preferences but you have to go by what the leader of a particular coalition party ultimately insists,” the prime minister had told the editors in reply to questions surrounding the 2G spectum scam and continuation of A. Raja as the telecom minister.
Raja, who quit last November, has been arrested by the CBI, which is probing the 2G allocation scam.