JD (U) brickbats for Shashi Tharoor after Vajpayee's bouquet

New Delhi, June 28 (UNI) Close on the heels of Atal Bihari Vajpayee offering bouquet to India's nominee for UN Secretary General's job Mr Shashi Tharoor, NDA ally Janata Dal (United) today raised a discordant voice by asking the Government to reconsider its decision and support a small country like Sri Lanka's nominee for the top job of the UN instead of ''playing into the game plan of the United States.'' In a statement Mr Digvijay Singh, the former Minister of State, for External Affairs in the NDA Government questioned the decision of the Government in choosing to back a 'light weight' diplomat like Shashi Tharoor.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should explain to the people of the country, why he chose Dr Tharoor to represent India? Who is he? and what are his contributions to the foreign policy. "A defeat in the race will be humiliating in the present circumstances", he warned.

The JD (U)'s brickbats for Mr Tharoor comes after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's offered a bouquet to India's nominee when he called him at his residence.

By implication India has tacitly conceded that it was no longer vying for the permanent seat in the UN Security Council as it was a known fact that the India could not get both -- UN Secretary General's post as well as the membership in the enlarged Security Council, he said.

Instead of using its position to work for a conesnsus among the Asian countries, India had joined the race along with countries like Thailand, South Korea and Sri Lanka for the UN top job. "We have lost the goodwill of smaller countries", he said.

He also said that the decision for backing Mr Tharoor was taken without proper consultations within the UPA and even there was no discussions with the Leader of Opposition in the Parliament. "It appears that such weighty discussions are taken by a handful of people who have not been dealing with foreign policy", he remarked.

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