The Hindu : Decision left to Dy. Speaker as deadlock continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 20, 2002

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Decision left to Dy. Speaker as deadlock continues

By Javed M. Ansari and K.V. Prasad

The Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker, P. M Sayeed (centre), with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, at the all-party meeting in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI APRIL 19. The meeting of the all-party leaders called by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, P.M. Sayeed, failed to break the deadlock in Parliament over the Gujarat issue, with both the Government and the Opposition parties sticking to their positions. For the fifth consecutive day, both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned without transacting any business.

The Government continued to insist that a discussion on Gujarat should be held, if at all, only under Rule 193, which means no voting takes place. The Opposition rejected it and stuck to its demand for discussion under Rule 184 which entails voting.

However, both sides agreed to abide by any decision Mr. Sayeed might take. Mr. Sayeed made it clear that although he could decide on the matter, he would prefer to follow the traditional route of agreement by consensus.

Significantly, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, suggested that if the Opposition was insisting on voting, it should table a no-confidence motion against the Government. It was seen as virtually daring the Opposition to bring down his Government if it thought it had the numbers. However, the entire Opposition rejected this suggestion pointing out that the Treasury benches "cannot tell us under what rule we should demand a discussion.'' That was the privilege of the Opposition.

`Shifting focus'

The Opposition parties saw in Mr. Vajpayee's suggestion an attempt to shift the focus away from the "mishandling" of the Gujarat situation by both the Central and the State Governments. The Opposition later justified its stand saying that it wanted all parties to take a clear and definite stand on an issue as important as the "massacres" in Gujarat. Rule 184 would allow each of the MP to record his/her opinion through a vote.

Articulating the Opposition's stand, the CPI(M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee, said the matter was not a routine issue which could be debated in a short duration discussion under Rule 193. "If the incidents in Gujarat could make the Prime Minister feel ashamed, it obviously is not a simple matter that can be discussed in a cursory manner.''

Rule 184 entails a substantive discussion and could stretch for even two days. On the other hand, Rule 193 would mean a discussion with a time limit of two hours.

Another objection raised by the Government was that Gujarat had already been discussed in the first half of the budget session and that it would set a wrong precedent to discuss a State matter in Parliament. This was challenged by the Opposition. "This is not a State matter, it concerns the whole country, the rule book allows for issues relating to the protection of the SCs/STs and the minorities to be raised,'' the Congress spokesperson, Jaipal Reddy, said.

The Opposition also sought to pick holes in the Government's defence pointing out that when Mr. Vajpayee was the Leader of the Opposition he had pressed for a discussion under Rule 184 on the situation in Uttar Pradesh.

A significant feature of today's meeting called by the Deputy Speaker was the unanimity in the stand taken by the Opposition parties. Speculation over "dilution" in the Congress stand was put to rest by the categorical position taken in favour of a discussion under Rule 184 by the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi. At the meeting this morning, Ms. Gandhi made it clear that there was no question of the Opposition settling for anything less than a discussion under the rules demanded by it.

However, unanimity was conspicuously absent among the allies of the National Democratic Alliance. The Telugu Desam Party insisted on a discussion without specifying any rule, while the Trinamool Congress, the JD(U) and the Lok Janshakti were . However, the Government did find a staunch supporter in the Samata Party — an uninvited guest to the meeting — and the Indian National Lok Dal.

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