New Delhi, Mar 5 (ANI): Commenting on the divergent views expressed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders after Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh owned responsibility for the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) fiasco, BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj on Saturday clarified that there was no difference of opinion between her and the party, and blamed limitations of words in twitter for it.
"There is no difference within the party and between me and (Arun) Jaitley on the issue. The demands he (Jaitley) made, the Prime Minister had already spoken about it that he will give a statement in Parliament. That is why, I did not put it on the twitter... There is a constraint in twitter that you have to say things in 140 characters. So I did not put it on twitter," Swaraj said.
"Newspapers have tried to show difference between me and Jaitley. The only difference is that he demanded a statement from the PM in Parliament. In fact PM had said that he (Singh) will make a statement in Parliament," she added.
Sushma Swaraj, who is the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Friday, said that the controversy over P.J. Thomas' appointment as the CVC should rest now following Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's statement that he accepted responsibility for the appointment.
"I appreciate the statement of the Prime Minister owning responsibility for the appointment of CVC which has been quashed by Supreme Court. I think this is enough. Let matters rest at this and we move forward," Swaraj wrote in her Twitter post.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley posed two questions to the Prime Minister: whether he was misled or had chosen to mislead himself and whether he was aware of the case against Thomas.
"He can't hide behind silence. If necessary, we will seek the Prime Minister's resignation," said Jaitley.
The Prime Minister had earlier on Friday said that he accepted responsibility for choosing Thomas as the CVC.
"I have already said I respect the judgement of the Supreme Court. I accept my responsibility," Dr. Singh said.
Thomas, who is facing a corruption case in a Kerala court, handed over his resignation to the government on Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down his appointment as the CVC. His lawyer has stated that Thomas will ask for a review of the judgement.
A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia delivered its verdict on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought removal of Thomas from the position of CVC.
The apex court, which had on February 10 reserved its on petitions challenging the appointment of Thomas, said that the appointment was illegal and that he must go. The apex court further said that criminal case should have been considered.
The Centre for Public Interest Litigation, an NGO and others had earlier challenged Thomas's appointment as the CVC, quoting the Palmolein import corruption case in which Thomas is an accused. (ANI)
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