Swraj Paul blames India for loss at CPA, says Somnath let him down

“I lost only because the Indian vote did not come, and they were just afraid to face me,” said the Labour member of the House of Lords while participating today in the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express. He quoted Chatterjee as having said “yes, yes, yes, yes,” when he had asked him for support after Canada and Britain proposed his candidature.

Paul lost to Malaysia’s Minister for Culture and Heritage Shafie Apdal by 50 votes. When reminded that Chatterjee had been saying all along that India had its own obligations (to back Apdal in return for Malaysia’s support for the candidature of outgoing chairman Hashim Abdul Halim of India in 2005), Paul said: “He was denying it, and I would not have put my name (without his support).” He added: “And that is why he was hiding from me for the whole time (at Kuala Lumpur).”

“I don’t mince words. I have a bad reputation of telling truth, and I told the Indians that you should be ashamed of yourself,” said Paul. “Even Pakistan told me, ‘Lord Swraj Paul, we are supporting you, but you worry about the Indians’,” he said.

Referring to his experience in the 1980s when he was willing to invest in India, Paul said: “I learnt one thing at that time — never trust what they (Indians) say. That is what, unfortunately, got repeated last week (at Kuala Lumpur).”