Dead serious,will stay the course: PM

Cautioning against creating an impression that India is a scam-driven country and nothing good is happening here,he said,We have a functioning government and whatever some people may say,that we are a lame duck government,that I am a lame duck Prime Minister,we take our job very seriously. We are here to govern,and to govern effectively.

Unfolding his plan at an interactive session with editors of TV channels,Singh admitted that he had to make some compromises under coalition compulsions. And to implement his plan,which also included a return to the economic reforms agenda,he offered to appear even before a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

He tore into the BJP,attributing its hostile attitude on GST to its demand to reverse the decision against a minister in Gujarat. In private,they say you have taken a decision against a particular person who was a minister in Gujarat. You must reverse it or… I dont want to say further, he said.

Sources in the ruling dispensation later said that the PM was referring to the CBIs case against former Gujarat minister Amit Shah who had been arrested for his alleged role in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

I am not afraid of appearing before any committee. The PAC is a joint parliamentary committee presided over by a very senior member of the opposition. I have publicly declared that I am willing to appear before the PAC. So I am not afraid of appearing before any committee including a JPC. And this is entirely a wrong impression that I was the one who was blocking the agreement about the JPC because I did not want to appear before the JPC. I have always said that as Prime Minister my conduct must be like Caesars wife above suspicion and I am quite prepared to appear before any committee that may go into this, he said.

Hours after the PMs remarks,Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee along with Cabinet colleagues P Chidambaram,AK Antony,Ghulam Nabi Azad and PK Bansal held discussions with senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to find ways to break the impasse in Parliament.

We re-iterated our demand for JPC. We requested that announcement for the formation of the JPC should be made on (February) 22 itself so that Parliament may resume functioning from that very day. We are hopeful that the government will accept our demand and impasse will be broken, Swaraj tweeted after the meeting.

Replying to a query as to whether he ever felt like quitting as he was not able to act against some corrupt people in the government,he said,I think in a coalition government there is a coalition dharma and obviously the things are not entirely the way I would like them to be but,quite frankly,I have never felt like resigning because I have a job to do. The country voted our party to be the leader of the UPA coalition and we have a lot of unfinished business to accomplish and,therefore,I have never thought in terms of giving up halfway and I will stay the course.

Asked if he would be prepared to be projected as Prime Ministerial candidate in the next election given that he has been facing attack from both the Opposition and the ruling parties,Singh said,Well,it is too early…we have still a long way. I have to complete this term. As far as the next term is concerned,it is too premature from me to speculate who will be the candidate.

As for Rajas re-induction in the Cabinet despite complaints against him,the PM said,In a coalition government,you can suggest your preferences but you have to go by what the leader of that particular coalition party ultimately insists. And Mr Raja along with Mr Maran was the choice of the DMK party. And,as of that moment,I had no reason,frankly speaking,to feel that anything seriously wrong had been done. And,therefore,I did not feel that I had the authority to object to Mr. Rajas entry because I quite honestly in May 2009,although complaints were coming from all sides,and some were from those companies which had not benefited,some were from those which had benefited but not benefited adequately and therefore I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong with Mr. Rajas doing at that time.

I dont say I have never made any mistake. But I am not that big a culprit as being made out to be, he said replying to a query whether he would accept moral responsibility for whatever has happened in the government.

I am conscious about my responsibility. You should have no doubt about it. But meri kuchch majbooriyan bhi hain (but I also have some compulsions). A lot has to be borne in coalition politics or otherwise there has to be an election every six months. Even this will not be proper. So some compromises have to be made in managing a coalition government and those issues have to be used in the context in which no single party,I think,emerges which can rule by itself, he said.

Endorsing Home Minister P Chidambarams remarks about governance deficit,he said,Obviously,if some events have taken place,they do bring out the weaknesses in governance,or you may call them ethical deficit. I dont deny that we need to improve the quality of governance that is not a subject that divides me and other members of the Cabinet.