9 December 2000

VAJPAYEE DISTRAUGHT AT SPECTRE OF CONTROVERSIES
HIS REMARKS HAVE TRIGGERED

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is disturbed to find himself caught in the knots with his off-the-cuff remarks on the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya on the site of the Babri Mosque demolished seven years ago that he made just to defend his charge-sheeted Cabinet colleagues.

The spectre of everything getting paralysed in the coming days because of his remarks haunts him and this was apparently reflected in his orders to the Union Cabinet Secretary to knock out from the agenda all important business proposed for the weekly Union Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.

The Ministers on Saturday were surprised to receive the Cabinet agenda with just two light subjects listed as otherwise the agenda always runs into ten to 15 issues for discussion and decision. The two subjects listed are: the Russian Treaties validation and the repeal of Hyderabad Export Duties Validation Act, 1955.

They were heard exchanging notes among themselves whether Vajpayee feared some of the allies' leaders, particularly persons like Railways Minister Mamta Bannerjee, creating problems if other serious matters were also listed for discussion in the Cabinet meeting.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) say Vajpayee is equally appalled by the Congress and other Opposition Parties' members rushing into the well of the Lok Sabha early this week to demonstrate and make noisy scenes even before the Speaker has entered the House.

He says he had never seen such disrespect for the Chair in 40 years of his Parliamentary career as Speaker GMC Balayogi was reduced to walking into a noisy mob. He has been telling his visitors that he would make this point in the House whenever it is able to assemble. He is, however, at a loss to know how long the Opposition Parties would continue to block the proceedings.

The Congress leaders, who competed with the Samajwadi Party MPs in occupying the House well, however, point out that Balayogi should have himself used his discretion by not entering the House and asking the Lok Sabha Secretary to announce adjournment of the House for the day. The presiding officer never enters the House until it is in order and fulfills conditions like presence of minimum 10 per cent members, etc. and the Speaker should have followed that practice, they point out.

The only way out for the Government to re-rail Parliament, which remained paralysed throughout this week, is to heed to the Congress demand for a discussion under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha on removal of three Ministers from the Vajpayee Cabinet -- Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti -- on account of the Lucknow special court summoning them for appearance in the Babri Mosque demolition on the basis of the charge-sheets filed against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Though the Opposition had been disrupting both the Houses of Parliament also on the issue of the Prime Minister's controversial remarks of the unfinished task of construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, nobody has so far sought any discussion on it. The Congress has, however, threatened to bring a no-confidence motion on this very issue if the Government refuses to allow discussion on the charge-sheeted ministers.
 
The Prime Minister has already held discussions with leaders of all the allies in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to convince them to his viewpoint by explaining his controversial remarks and as such secured an assurance from each one of them to blast the Congress if the discussion takes place under Rule 184 which requires voting in the end. Vajpayee is, therefore, confident that any such discussion will not result in defeat of his government on the floor of the Lok Sabha but the allies have urged him to find some other via-media instead of exposing them to speak on the ticklish issue of the mosque demolition which most of them can never approve. END