PM, Advani lock horns; Opposition tears into Pawar

NEW DELHI, March 3: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani locked horns in the Lok Sabha Wednesday over “secret talks” on Kashmir and the implementation of one-rank-one-pension scheme for defence personnel while the opposition tore into Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha on an alleged sugar scam.

The prime minister attacked Advani for trying to create a “rift between service personnel” and the government. The BJP leader had alleged that a promise made in the 2009 budget – on the one-rank-one-pension scheme for ex-servicemen – had not been implemented completely.“Whatever I have promised, my government has done. Whatever the finance minister stated in the budget, it has been implemented,” Manmohan Singh said.

Advani also referred to a Newsweek report, which quoted Indian and US sources as saying that India and Pakistan have restarted “secret back-channel talks” over Kashmir, and asked the prime minister for an explanation.

Manmohan Singh said: “How many times did Jaswantji (who was external affairs minister in the NDA government) talk with US government representatives? How many times you informed the house? Why are you expecting me to answer hypothetical questions?”