Did Vajpayee not trust Advani, asks Sonia Gandhi
3 Apr 2008, 1823 Hrs

Sharpening her attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday questioned his claim that he was not party to send former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Kandahar to swap terrorists for hostages, and asked whether Advani enjoyed trust of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee

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Baneshwardham (Rajasthan), Apr 3 (ANI): Sharpening her attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday questioned his claim that he was not party to send former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Kandahar to swap terrorists for hostages, and asked whether Advani enjoyed trust of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee.

"Now the then Home Minister of NDA says he was not aware of it (Jaswant Singh accompany terrorists). If he was not aware of it, why did this happen?," Sonia questioned while addressing a public meeting here.

"What are we to understand? that the NDA Prime Minister did not trust him. Why so,?," she asked.

Talking about statement of then Defence Minister George Fernandes that Advani was part of the consultations that culminated into sending Jaswant Singh to Kandahar, Sonia Gandhi wondered who spoke the truth.

"Who is speaking the truth and who is not? Why are they hiding the truth?," she asked.

"I want to know which party pandered to terrorists and sent them away to Afghanistan. It was not the UPA but the BJP," she added.

In a recent TV interview, Advani had said that decision to send Jaswant Singh was not discussed by the Cabinet Committee on Security of the NDA regime and that he was not aware how the hostages were to be brought back. (ANI)