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Sayeed, 'a gentleman, deserves to be deputy speaker', says Jethmalani

Union Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani feels that veteran Congress MP P M Sayeed ''deserves to be the Lok Sabha deputy speaker'' .

Speaking to the media in Chandigarh, Jethmalani said, ''Sayeed is a gentleman and I personally feel that he deserves the post.''

''But my viewpoint does not matter as I am only a Rajya Sabha member,'' he added .

Jethmalani said the Vajpayee government at the Centre could not portray its ''many achievements'' during its eight-month rule and this had led to the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the recent assembly elections in three states of Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh .

''This is a scam-free and clean government with no charges of corruption,'' he asserted and added, ''We ended decades of hypocrisy in the country by adopting clear-cut policies on various platforms including the nuclear option.''

Responding to a question, the Union minister said even though some alliance parties in the Union government expressed their indifferent attitude on many occasions, nobody among them had ever talked of withdrawing support to the Centre.

UNI

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