Deadlock continues in Rajya Sabha

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 13. The deadlock over the Ayodhya issue continued to cast its shadow on the Rajya Sabha which was adjourned for the eighth day without transacting any business even as a discussion on it got underway in the Lok Sabha.

What lead to the adjournment after two brief sessions today was the Government's agreeing for a discussion in the Lok Sabha under a substantive motion entailing voting but not allowing it under a similar provision in the Rajya Sabha.

The Opposition members, including those from the Congress, the CPI(M), the CPI, the RJD, the Samajwadi Party, the RSP, the AIADMK, the Forward Bloc and the United Parliamentary Group, insisted that they wanted a discussion culminating in a vote. The Government was reluctant to concede this, considering that their strength was less than that of the Opposition.

In the morning, the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Mr. Krishan Kant, adjourned the House till 2.00 p.m., and the Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Najma Heptulla, wound it up for the day after pandemonium broke out with the Congress MP, Mr. Suresh Pachauri, wanting to know the fate of the motion moved by him along with Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. Kapil Sibal for a discussion under Rule 168. As other members joined the chorus, those on the Treasury Benches objected to it. Dr. Heptulla said that the House was being adjourned till tomorrow since a meeting to find a way to resolve the deadlock was going on.

After a meeting of Opposition leaders, the MPs

released a joint statement blaming the Government for disagreeing to have a discussion on the impropriety of the statement of the Prime Minister exonerating the three Union Cabinet Ministers against whom chargesheets have been filed in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

The joint statement was signed by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee (Congress), Dr. Biplab Dasgupta (CPI-M), Mr. Ranjan Prasad Yadav (RJD), Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Mr. Abani Roy (RSP), Mr. R. Margabandhu (AIADMK), Mr. B.S. Ramoowalia (United Parliamentary Group), Mr. Gaya Singh (CPI) and Mr. Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc).

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. O. Rajagopal, told The Hindu, that the Government was willing to allow a discussion under Rules of the House and had offered two options - the Prime Minister would make a statement followed by a discussion or a short-duration discussion.

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