12 December 2000

CONSPIRACY TO MANHANDLE PM NIPPED IN THE BUD

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: A Samajwadi Party conspiracy to manhandle Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday on the issue of the Ayodhya temple was foiled by a timely tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau even as both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned without transacting any business for the seventh consecutive day.

The young MPs of the BJP led by Union Minister of State for Shipping Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav  surrounded the Prime Minister's desk to protect him from any untoward attempt by the Samajwadi Party members during the pandemonium, though nobody from the Samajwadi Party side made any attempt to rush to the Prime Minister. 

Vajpayee gets the security cover of the Special Protection Group (SPG) but the SPG men cannot enter the House and hence Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan was approached reportedly by the SPG chief with a request to provide him the physical body cover of the ruling NDA MPs.

A word had gone around that the Prime Minister will make a statement in the Lok Sabha to clarify his controversial remarks on construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, irrespective of pandemonium or no pandemonium raked up by the Opposition every day.

The Samajwadi Party MPs had worked out a strategy to walk into the House well and snatch away papers from the Prime Minister's desk if he tried to make a statement. They have done it in the past with Thambi Durai and Ram Jethmalani when they had tried to move the women's reservation bill and hence the IB lost no time in alerting both Vajpayee as well as Mahajan about the Samajwadi plan.

Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed, who presided over the brief sitting on Tuesday, was also reportedly informed by Mahajan about the IB tip-off and as such he quickly adjourned the House for the day when the BJP members started raising counter-slogans to the Samajwadi Party members' slogans demanding resignation of the Prime Minister.

The slanging match of slogans continued even after the House was adjourned and Mahajan could be heard requesting first his own BJP MPs and then going to the other side urging members to better disperse since the House was no longer in session.

Meanwhile, a settlement was reached between the Government and the Opposition parties after a week of deadlock to have a discussion under Rule 184 (requires voting) of the Rules and Procedures of the Lok Sabha and the debate will begin on Wednesday at 12.30 and conclude on Thursday with the Prime Minister's response and voting.

There are in all 53 motions, out of which 45 are given notice by the Congress members who had questioned the propriety of the continuation of three Ministers -- Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sports Minister Uma Bharti -- in the Cabinet in view of the Lucknow Special Court summons to them in the Babri Mosque demolition case. ( The Court had summoned them on December 19, 23 and 26 but the new dates of summons are now January 14 and 15 for Joshi and January 23 for Advani.)

There are eight other motions by Samajwadi Party, Muslim League, ADMK and the Communists. The Samajwadi Party member's motion is on the Prime Minister's statement while others have sought resignations of the three chargesheeted ministers.

It is, however, still not clear who will be piloting the motion as the name will be decided by ballot only on Wednesday morning. The Lok Sabha Secretariat sources said it shall be a comprehensive motion incorporating points from all motions so as to leave no grievances.

The impasse in the Rajya Sabha, however, has not been sorted out as there also the notices have been given for discussion on conduct of the three chargesheeted ministers. END