Date:27/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/27/stories/2004072707320100.htm

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NDA to stay out of parliamentary committees

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, JULY 26. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today decided to withdraw from all parliamentary committees, including the standing committees and consultative committees specific to individual Ministries.

This will mean that mainly the Opposition will not accept the job of chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the most prestigious and powerful of all committees. The main Opposition parties of the NDA will not be represented in the standing committees which meet during the parliamentary recess during a budget session, which is on now till August 16, to make a detailed examination of the demands for grants to individual Ministries.

The decision was taken this morning after an hour-long meeting at the residence of the NDA chairman, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The NDA convener, George Fernandes, issued a statement to the press saying that "it was unanimously decided that unless the Government changes its attitude towards the Opposition and makes amends for the uncalled for attacks on the Opposition, the NDA shall not join any parliamentary committee.''

`Negative approach'

The BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, V.K. Malhotra, said the statement of the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, on the last day of the first part of the budget session was the latest provocation. Mr. Malhotra, and separately, the former Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, said the Government had adopted a "negative and confrontationist approach towards the Opposition.''

Both said the Government did not give the Opposition any space on the issue of chargesheeted Ministers and this was followed by removal of four Governors. Soon the Shibu Soren case surfaced and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, refused to come out with any statement on the issue. The last straw was Mr. Mukherjee's statement, they said.