Opposition determined on 'censuring' Govt.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The Lok Sabha was disrupted again today with the Opposition insisting on ``censuring'' the Vajpayee Government over the RSS issue, even as the Union Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, defended in the Rajya Sabha the Gujarat Government's decision to allow its staff to join the RSS.

After two days of disruption and furore over the wording of a motion to discuss the issue, the Rajya Sabha settled for a short discussion on the Centre's failure to persuade the Gujarat Government to withdraw the circular regarding Government employees joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Though the Opposition in the Upper House agreed to drop the words in the motion that the RSS' basic philosophy ran counter to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, the discussion witnessed heated exchanges with the BJP staunchly defending the Gujarat circular and the Opposition attacking it as an act of a much larger design.

Mr. Jethmalani who defended the Gujarat decision while participating in his capacity as a member of the House had to end his speech amidst protests from Opposition benches to his remarks on the origins of RSS as a response to the failure of the Khilafat movement of Mahatma Gandhi.

In the Lok Sabha, the bone of contention was the rule under which a discussion on the issue should be held. The Government's decision to discuss it under Rule 193, which does not involve voting, provoked angry protests with the Opposition arguing that it was too serious an issue to be simply ``talked out''.

Senior Opposition leaders contended that they wanted to ``censure'' the Vajpayee Government for its ``failure'' to intervene in Gujarat and since a discussion under Rule 193 did not convey fully the significance of the issue they preferred a debate under Rule 184 which entailed voting.

The CPI's Mrs. Geeta Mukherjee, in whose name the discussion was listed, said her party had indeed given notice under Rule 193 but this was before the Opposition unitedly decided to press for a vote. The CPI supported the demand for discussion under Rule 184 and was withdrawing her earlier notice, she said.

A point repeatedly made by the Opposition was that since the Speaker had already disallowed an adjournment motion he should at least agree to discuss it under Rule 184. ``You have taken the softest possible opinion'', complained the Congress(I) leader, Mr. Kamal Nath, pointing out it concerned the entire House.

The Congress(I)'s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, said the decision to have a discussion under Rule 193 was taken without ``consulting us'' and urged the Speaker to reconsider it. It was a ``matter of regret'' that a decision was taken without taking the Opposition into confidence. The Samajwadi Party leader, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, supported the Congress(I) stand, saying nothing short of a discussion under Rule 184 would be acceptable to his party.

The trouble began as soon as the House met in the morning with the CPI(M) demanding a debate on its adjournment motion after suspending question hour. The party leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, asked the Government not to treat it as a ``routine matter'' as the ``integrity'' of the country was involved. He wondered why the Government was running away from an adjournment motion when it had a majority.

Meanwhile, some members trooped into the ``well'' and as noisy scenes prevailed the Speaker adjourned the House until 2 p.m. The turmoil continued when the House re-assembled, with the CPI(M)'s Mr. Basudeb Acharya in the Chair, and it was adjourned again after tabling of papers. There was more commotion when the House resumed at 4 p.m. forcing the Speaker to adjourn it for the day.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jethmalani sought to make out that the Gujarat Government's decision was accepted by a large section of State's people and said the Centre could not follow the example of the State as it was a coalition government. ``Lifting the ban on government employees to take part in RSS activities is not a decision of the NDA Government. The coalition government at the Centre will hold its horses till all partners agree''.

Mrs. Jayanti Natarajan quoted extensively from the RSS constitution and the oath administered to its members to prove her contention that the ideology and philosophy of the organisation ran contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The clout enjoyed by the RSS in the BJP Government could be gauged from the fact that it brought out a special supplement commending the Pokhran nuclear tests simultaneously with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's announcement to the rest of the world.

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