Singh, Vajpayee

New Delhi, Dec. 9: The Prime Minister today tendered an apology for Congress MP Beni Prasad Verma’s derogatory remark about Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday, although Verma continued to refuse to apologise.

Manmohan Singh’s gesture defused the crisis. The BJP, which had decided to disrupt Parliament today again after creating a ruckus yesterday, accepted the apology and allowed the Lok Sabha to function normally.

As soon as the House met this morning, Singh got up to say: “A member of the ruling coalition yesterday made remarks which were inappropriate. I was not here yesterday. I apologise for the remarks.”

Verma had used the expression “neech” (low) in the House while translating the phrase “little men” used by Liberhan to describe Vajpayee and L.K. Advani.

Verma wasn’t in the House during Singh’s apology, which is a virtual snub for him. Still, the MP later told reporters: “I have done no wrong and will not apologise.”

After persuasion from senior leaders cutting across party lines and Speaker Meira Kumar, Verma had expressed regret yesterday but refused to apologise.

The BJP had said yesterday that only Verma’s apology would satisfy it after home minister P. Chidambaram apologised for the remark, which had been expunged from the records by the Speaker.

The Congress went on the offensive today, describing the BJP’s behaviour in the Lok Sabha yesterday as a blot on India’s parliamentary record.

“We were discussing a report on one of the most heinous crimes in India’s political history and it was important for the people to know the contours of the debate,” party spokeswoman Jayanthi Natrajan said. “The BJP’s behaviour was unruly, undemocratic and un-parliamentary. They should have used the available parliamentary methods to raise objection instead of shouting slogans, howling and throwing paper balls at the home minister.”

Asked if Verma too should have apologised and why the Prime Minister, who was not in the House when the incident took place, should apologise, Natarajan said: “I am here responding on behalf of the Congress, not any individual. The Prime Minister apologised and that is the mark of his graciousness and commitment to parliamentary democracy. The nation should be proud of him.”

Natrajan, however, did not tender any apology on behalf of the party.

The BJP had objected only to Vajpayee being insulted though Verma had referred to both him and Advani. Even Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had intervened to try and resolve the crisis, focused on Vajpayee alone.

Sharad noted that Vajpayee was the senior-most politician in the country and a former Prime Minister, and was not present in the House to defend himself. Mulayam said that a Vajpayee was not made in a day, and that the former Prime Minister commanded respected across the country.

Both requested Verma to consider Vajpayee’s stature and apologise.

On Liberhan’s findings, too, the BJP’s focus was on Vajpayee and the Deoraha Baba, not on Advani. Although Sushma Swaraj said the Ayodhya movement had turned Advani into a jan nayak (mass leader), none of the BJP speakers attempted to defend him against Liberhan’s charges.