Opposition
presses for PM's resignation
Tribune
News Service
NEW DELHI, Dec 2 —
The Vajpayee government was at the receiving end in the
Lok Sabha today with the Samajwadi Party and the CPM
seeking the Prime Minister’s resignation in the wake
of his party’s defeat in the recent assembly
elections and the Congress leading an Opposition
onslaught on the government’s inaction in the
brewing controversy over a shrine in Karnataka.
The ruling side, however,
made it clear that it was in no mood to oblige the
Opposition and dared it to bring a no-confidence motion
if they were serious about the ouster of the government.
The SP and the CPM said they were not interested in
moving a no-confidence motion as they wanted the
government to resign on "moral" grounds.
The SP chief, Mr Mulayam
Singh Yadav, who has been at the forefront in demanding
the Prime Minister’s resignation, brought up the
issue once again during zero hour and said Mr Atal Behari
Vajpayee should resign as the people had clearly
indicated in the recent elections that they had no
confidence in his government.
"People have rejected
the BJP in the assembly elections and there is no
question of bringing a no-confidence motion," he
said. He also sought the support of the Congress in
toppling the government.
Flaying the government for
its failure to contain the rising prices of essential
commodities, Mr Mulayam Singh, said that prices had shot
up by almost 600 per cent, compelling the poor man to go
without meals. He said apart from the poor state of
economy, the law and order had also worsened during the
present government’s regime.
Referring to the former
Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav’s arrest
Mr Mulayam Singh said it was political vendetta. He was
supported by members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
who accused the Centre of misusing power to settle
political scores.
Mr Mulayam Singh also
alleged that sugar was being imported from Pakistan at
the cost of the domestic industry.
The CPM leader, Mr Somnath
Chatterjee, joined the SP leader in demanding the Prime
Minister’s resignation saying within eight months of
the BJP-led government’s rule the economy was in a
shambles and there was an unprecedented price hike. He
said the verdict in the recent elections was in favour of
India’s unity and integrity and against the
"forces of disunity".
The people were not
prepared to tolerate an "unprincipled"
coalition government and the political propriety of the
state was in question, he said.
"Mr Vajpayee talks of
politics of morality...he should resign" Mr
Chatterjee said. "Not a tear will be shed in the
country if this government goes", he added.
The Union Parliamentary
Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, rose in the
government’s defence saying he could understand the
Congress raising such issues, but for leaders of parties
who had themselves done poorly in the elections they had
no right.
"In how many states
did your party candidates retain their deposits in the
recent elections?" he asked. He said the United
Front during its brief stint at the Centre too had lost
some elections in a few states like Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
On Mr Mulayam Singh’s
allegation on the arrest of the Bihar Chief Minister, Mr
Khurana said it was done at the behest of the Supreme
Court and the Centre had no hand in it.
The decision to import
sugar from Pakistan, he said was taken by the United
Front Government and the present government was trying to
protect the interests of the farmers.
This was not the end of
criticism for the ruling Benches as the very next
speaker, the Deputy Leader of the Congress, Mr P. Shiv
Shankar, in his mention charged the government with
abetting disruption of communal harmony in the country by
encouraging frontal organisations of the BJP to take out
a "rath yatra" to a shrine of a Sufi saint at
Chikmaglur in Karnataka on December 3.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad
and the Bajrang Dal have threatened to
"liberate" the shrine, revered both by Hindus
and Muslims, on December 3. The pilgrim centre,
Bababudangiri, derived its name from Baba Budan, a Muslim
Sufi saint who visited it. Besides, Swami Dattareya is
said to have meditated there.
Mr Shiv Shankar said that
the planned 'rath yatra' was a matter of shame for the
country and the House should unanimously condemn the
manner in which the yatra was being proposed to be taken
out.
A former Prime Minister
and Janata Dal leader, Mr Deve Gowda, said as per his
knowledge both Hindus and Muslims were coexisting in a
peaceful manner in the Centre. He said during his tenure
as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, the BJP had insisted
on hoisting the National Flag at the Idgah maidan there
on August 15, claiming that the Muslims in the area had
no respect for the flag.
Contrary to their claim,
the Muslim leaders had helped in hoisting the flag and
ever since there had been no problem.
Addressing the ruling
benches, the former Prime Minister said: "there is
no political gains from this (rath yatra)."
Mr Gowda said he had
spoken to the Karnataka Chief Minister and the state
government was fully capable of handling the situation.
Central help was not needed, he added. Taking a dig at
the VHP’s threat to liberate the shrine, Mr Gowda
while looking towards the ruling Benches said: "the
country has to be liberated from them".
Mr G.M.Banatwala of the
Muslim League warned that communal passions would be
inflamed if the rath yatra was permitted. He urged the
allies of the BJP to withdraw support to the government.
Mr Basudeb Acharia of the
CPM was apprehensive that there was every possibility of
the re-enactment of the December 6, 1992, episode when
the Babri Masjid was demolished despite assurances from
the central and state governments.
Mr Khurana assured the
members that he would request the Home Minister, Mr
L.K.Advani, to make a statement on the issue and asserted
that the Opposition had twisted the facts of the case.
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