Cong failed as an effective opposition in MP: Patwa

Bhopal, Sep 29 (UNI) Pointing out that the Congress had failed to discharge its responsibilities as an effective opposition, senior BJP leader Sunderlal Patwa has said BJP workers took over the opposition's role on many occasions.

Mr Patwa told UNI here that ruling and opposition parties complemented each other in a democratic setup.

''Unfortunately, the Congress is not playing that role. The negative role played by the Congress on several occasions in Madhya Pradesh proved that it was not discharging its responsibilities properly,'' he said, adding that he would not like to go into the reasons, as it was a matter related to working style of another party.

On his earlier statement that BJP workers must rise beyond opposition mentality, Mr Patwa said, ''Our people took over the opposition's role on several occasions when the Congress did not discharge its responsibilities.'' On stiff competition among BJP leaders on organisational level which had created a headache for state party president Satyanarain Jatia, he said agreements and disagreements were bound to happen in a democratic setup. However, there was no internal tussle in the BJP.

''History stands witness that most political parties in the country had undergone divisions due to ambitions of political leaders. However, the BJP was an exception to this,'' the senior BJP leader said.

Regarding imbalance between senior leaders and young turks in the BJP, he said a single person could not remain in a decisive role for a long time in a party or a family.

He claimed that there was better coordination between senior leaders and young turks in the party.

UNI SD-PS 1545