The Hindu : Opposition remains divided on boycott of Fernandes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 27, 2003

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Opposition remains divided on boycott of Fernandes

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 26. The Opposition parties remain divided over the need to review the stand to boycott the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, in Parliament. While the Congress is inclined to sort out the impasse, the Left and Rashtriya Janata Dal insist little has changed to warrant a re-look.

Cracks surfaced in the Opposition ranks after the Government made it known that the Congress had indicated it could review the boycott stand, provided there was a full-fledged debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Tehelka expose.

The Left parties and the RJD felt that such a decision could not be arrived at unilaterally by the Congress, when each party had played a role in creating a momentum inside Parliament against Mr. Fernandes. As a sop to its new-found parliamentary allies, the Congress later demanded a debate on the issue in both Houses, which was rejected by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj.

After a meeting of Opposition leaders on Friday, the Congress underscored the importance of a collective decision, a view echoed by the CPI (M).

The Left and the RJD were also of the opinion that since there was no initiative from the Government, the Opposition had no reason to go in for a review of the nearly two-year-old boycott, begun to protest Mr. Fernandes' re-induction into the Union Cabinet while facing a judicial probe. At the Friday meeting, the issue led to some heated exchanges between the RJD chief, Laloo Prasad Yadav, and the Congress' Pranab Mukherjee. At one stage, Mr. Yadav accused the Congress of having decided to surrender on the issue, which brought an angry retort from Mr. Mukherjee.

"Accommodating national interest does not amount to a surrender," he is understood to have said.

To sort out the issue, the Opposition leaders will meet again on Monday. This would be preceded by a meeting of the Congress Political Affairs Committee.

There is a view in the Congress that as the principal Opposition party, it should raise issues of national security and defence preparedness. The feeling was that with the boycott policy in place, the Government was "going scot free", even though there were several shortcomings on this vital issue.

Non-utilisation of allocated defence budget to the tune of Rs.24,000 crores meant for procurement, recurring crashes of MiG aircraft and the need to debate on the post-Kargil Subrahmanyam committee report, among others were reasons compelling enough for the Congress to move ahead.

The larger question of unity among Opposition parties that has been evolved over the last three years inside Parliament, also figures in the overall scheme of things.

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