The Hindu : There will be no remote control: Joshi

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Saturday, May 11, 2002

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There will be no remote control: Joshi

By Our Special Correspondent

The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, P.M. Sayeed (left), and its Secretary General, G.C. Malhotra (right), presenting a bouquet to Manohar Joshi, after he took over as Speaker, at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI MAY 10. Manohar Gajanan Joshi today began his innings as the Speaker of the 13th Lok Sabha, with a clarification. Referring to "fears" voiced both on the floor of the House and outside, about being remote-controlled by his party chief, he said Bal Thackeray himself had asked him to be "impartial, so there won't be any problem''.

The issue came up soon after Mr. Joshi's election today and was focussed upon by the CPI(M) member, Somnath Chatterjee, in his speech while felicitating the new Speaker. Mr. Chatterjee told Mr Joshi that now that he was the Speaker of the entire House, it was hoped that he would "not surrender to any remote control, and unlike, the Prime Minister, he would not be a pracharak first''.

Earlier, the 62-year-old Sena leader was formally elected by a voice vote. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, and an array of NDA floor leaders proposed and seconded the motion suggesting that Mr. Joshi be chosen as the Speaker of the House.

Mr. Joshi, incidentally, is the first Sena leader to become the Speaker and the fifth person to be elected Speaker in mid-session and the second in the 13th Lok Sabha following the death of G.M.C. Balayogi in a helicopter crash on March 3.

Mr. Joshi was elected unopposed. However, the strains in the political spectrum were evident with the Opposition parties seeking to distance themselves from his election. Unlike in the past, the Opposition parties did not propose or second his nomination.

The election process was set in motion soon after question hour with the Deputy speaker, P.M. Sayeed, urging the House to take up the business of Speaker's election prior to the other items listed for the day. The first motion was moved by Mr. Vajapyee and seconded by Mr. Advani. Soon after his election, Mr. Joshi was escorted to the Speaker's chair by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi.

Later, Mr. Vajpayee, Ms. Gandhi, Mr. Chatterjee, Chandra Shekhar and the leaders of almost all the parties welcomed Mr. Joshi's election and promised him full support. Mr. Vajpayee said it was good that the tradition of electing the Speaker unopposed had been maintained and expressed

confidence that Mr. Joshi would do justice to the onerous responsibility thrust on him. The post was like "the throne of Vikramaditya and whoever sat on it would have to deliver justice to all by upholding the Constitution and rules''.

Ms. Gandhi offered her party's cooperation and full support to Mr. Joshi. She expressed the hope that as in the case of his predecessors, all sections of the House would receive his attention.

Mr. Sayeed said that he felt "relieved'' that the responsibility of running the House that fell on him after Balayogi's death would now be shared by somebody else.

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