No regrets over Vajpayee's letter: NDA

New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) The National Democratic Alliance today said it had no regrets over former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee regarding the manner in which the House was being run, triggering further confrontation between the Opposition and Treasury Benches on the issue in both the Houses of Parliament.

Lok Sabha leader and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and other NDA leaders over the issue this morning but did not succeed in his efforts.

Talking to newspersons after an NDA meeting, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the NDA stood by 'each and every word' Mr Vajpayee had said in his letter and therefore, there was no question of any regrets.

Mr Malhotra said, in fact, the UPA and its supporting parties should apologise for criticising the Opposition during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha on August 8 when its members were sitting outside on a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue to protest against the Speaker's bias attitude towards them.

The meeting, held in Mr Advani's chamber, was attended by Mr Mukherjee, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi from the Government side and Mr Advani, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh and representatives of other NDA constituents.

UNI KAS PK HS1316