Govt. to go in for vote-on-account

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, MARCH 19. With the Government reconciled to the fact that the rest of the first phase of the budget session of Parliament is lost, it has decided to get the crucial vote-on- account approved by the Lok Sabha tomorrow and the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, even if it means getting these through amidst the din and noise of protests and counter-protests by Opposition and treasury benches.

The Opposition having decided to continue to press for the resignation of the Government and not to allow any business to be conducted till Friday, March 23, when Parliament will adjourn for a month-long recess. The treasury benches have also given up on trying to get Parliament going. There has been no all party meeting to get the issue resolved. As one Minister put it, ``what can we talk about when all that they, the Opposition, say is that we should pack our bags?''

Today, Parliament was like all days since last Tuesday when the tehelka scandal broke out. Both the Houses were adjourned soon after shouting and counter shouting by the Opposition and treasury benches - in the Rajya Sabha, a short obituary reference was allowed - and then the opposing groups gathered on the steps of Parliament and continued their shouting match for well over half an hour before dispersing.

A plea made by the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, that it was time all parties got together and work out a national consensus for ``cleansing the system'' fell on deaf ears.

During the day, Opposition party leaders - Mr. Somnath Chatterji (CPM), Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Mr. P. H. Pandian (AIADMK), Mr. Sharad Pawar (NCP), Ms. Kanti Singh (RJD), Mr. G. M. Banatwala (Muslim League) and some others - met and decided they will continue to press for the government's resignation. The point they are making is that since some of the actors in the tehelka tapes have been caught ``red-handed'' there is no need for an inquiry because the guilt has been established prima facie.

The PMK, which has not very long ago crossed the floor over to the AIADMK, has also assured that its MPs will be with the opposition. Separately, the Congress Party has also made it clear that it is not satisfied by the ordering of an inquiry by a retired Supreme Court judge, that the Vajpayee government is guilty of having compromised national security, and it must go.

Government sources indicated that since the Congress Party has already let it be known that it will not come in the way of allowing Parliament to approve the Railways and the general vote- on-accounts, it was decided not to leave this important work for the last couple of days.

As of now, the plan is to present at noon tomorrow in the Lok Sabha the Railways supplementary grants and the appropriation bill for this year first and then the vote-on- account to allow the Railways to withdraw money till the Railway Budget is passed in May. A similar exercise will be done for the general account - supplementary grants, appropriation bill and the vote-on-account. The entire exercise is expected to take at most half an hour, and then the day after (Wednesday) it will be repeated in the Rajya Sabha.

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