Fernandes defiant, allies troubled

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14. The day after the Tehelka.com ``expose'' of its dirty defence deal-makings, the beleaguered NDA Government was precariously perched, with its moral authority visibly depleted and a significant ally, the Trinamool Congress, threatening to walk out of the ruling coalition.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, found himself buffeted, on the one hand, by a united Opposition, unrelenting in its demand that the Government - and, in particular, the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, - resign on moral grounds; and, on the other, by the George Fernandes-Jaya Jaitely duo, which appears to have dug in its heels, and which has more or less told the BJP establishment that the ``Bangaru Laxman rekha'' would not be drawn around the Samata Party leaders.

By evening while the National Democratic Alliance - minus Ms. Mamata Banerjee and Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde - formally resolved to close ranks, the Congress and the rest of the Opposition made it clear, in and out of Parliament, that there would be no let-up in the pressure on the Government. The Congress Working Committee, in a statement, talked of ``the immense threat to national security from the venality of the NDA government'' and asserted that ``this government has lost its moral right to continue in office''.

The political cost of the expose to the Government and its image became evident as the reverberations of the scandal were heard even outside the capital; non-NDA political groups and parties raised the issue of scandal and corruption in the State Assemblies of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Jammu and Kashmir. To further compound the Government's misery, a new allegation was sought to be hurled at Mr. L. K. Advani's Home Ministry, though the Ministry officials quickly moved in to douse the fire of suspicion.

Uproar in Parliament

The tone of confrontation was set in the morning when a determined Opposition disrupted proceedings in Parliament. In both Houses, the Opposition members gathered in the well even before the proceedings began, and did not allow the Chair to proceed with the listed business. Amid shouting and counter- shouting, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day within seven minutes, while the Lok Sabha was disrupted twice before the Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi, called it a day.

The Opposition members raised slogans about the corrupt Government. The mood was not to entertain any suggestion about any kind of debate or inquiry; instead, the idea seemed to be paint the Government in corruption colours. In the Lok Sabha, the charge to the well was led by Mr. Buta Singh, who was asked to resign from the Vajpayee Government in April 1998 on a corruption charge, but who today had the satisfaction of returning the compliment.

In contrast was the Government's strategy, in and outside Parliament, to assert its innocence and reasonableness. After the Lok Sabha's first disruption of the day, the Prime Minister told reporters that the Government was prepared for a discussion and the Opposition was free to make a case for the Defence Minister's resignation as well as for an inquiry. This line of defence was formally advanced at the NDA meeting. At the same time, in a propitiatory gesture, the Government suspended some defence officials.

In what was seen as a tactical move to cut its losses, the decision to suspend defence officials raised the issue of the constitutional responsibility and moral obligation of the Defence Minister. However, during the course of the day it became clear that the BJP leaders, particularly Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani, had allowed themselves to be intimidated by Mr. Fernandes. The Defence Minister is believed to have threatened that if he was forced to step down, he would not go alone and that the whole Government would come tumbling down.

But an unintimidated Ms. Banerjee has come pretty close to demanding Mr. Fernandes' resignation from the Cabinet, while Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde, one of the founders of the NDA, found himself excluded from the NDA meeting for speaking out in the Central Hall against the Defence Minister.

The Government's political managers are understood to have concluded that ultimately the Prime Minister would have to concede a probe either by a Joint Parliamentary Committee or by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, but neither the ruling party and nor its coalition partners (at least most of them) are in a mood to give in to the Opposition argument of ``moral'' culpability. It is also taken into calculation that Parliament is not likely to be allowed to transact any legislative business, at least till the Congress MPs come back after the Bangalore plenary over the weekend.

PTI reports:

Later, Mr. Vajpayee in his first reaction to the corruption charges said the Government was ready for an inquiry. On the Opposition's demand for the Government's resignation, he said ``let them make a case for the resignation of the Government... this is a political demand. Let the matter be discussed in the House.''

Asked if there was a conspiracy behind the expose, the

Prime Minister said, ``daal mein kuch kaala hai (there is something fishy).''

Mr. Advani said, ``we are ready for discussions and we will accept whatever emerges from them. We have nothing to hide.''

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, told reporters, ``if the Opposition wants, we are ready for a discussion under any rule... 193, 184 or calling attention.'' He said Parliament had the right to discuss the issue. ``I accept and Honour that right... Government will accept the general consensus.''

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