Bhagwat issue rocks Houses
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 16 — The allegations levelled by the former Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat rocked both Houses of Parliament today with the Rajya Sabha being adjourned for the day without transacting any business.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for about 80 minutes following the Congress demand for the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the charges. Normalcy was restored when the House reassembled at 2 pm and the Speaker announced that a special committee comprising members of both Houses would take a decision tomorrow on how the issue should be taken up in Parliament.

In the Rajya Sabha, the agitated Congress members, joined by members from the Left, forced the Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, to adjourn the House for the day when it reassembled at 2 pm following the first adjournment.

As soon as the House met the second time, Opposition members were on their feet demanding a discussion on the allegations made by the former Admiral. Mr Krishan Kant tried to restore order, but with the Opposition not in a mood to relent, he adjourned the House for the day.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Congress member Rajesh Pilot said the allegations levelled by Admiral Bhagwat concerned national security and the House should take up a discussion immediately.

He pointed out that the former Naval Chief despite being sacked was being given pension and "there is something stinking" about the whole affair.

Referring to Admiral Bhagwat’s claim that the Defence Minister did not enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister, Mr Pilot said the Defence Minister should resign.

The Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, at this point decided to intervene but several agitated Congress members stopped him from speaking saying either the Prime Minister or the Defence Minister should answer the charges.

There was a pandemonium for the next half-an-hour with the Deputy Speaker, Mr P.M.Sayed, urging Congress members to resume their seats and allow the Home Minister to speak.

Member after member in the Congress benches levelled charges but nothing of what they said went on record as per the Chair’s direction.

An exasperated Deputy Speaker kept his cool and informed the Congress Chief Whip, Mr P.J.Kurien, to inform him when his members were "exhausted".

When order finally prevailed in the House, Mr Advani rose to inform that since a committee of senior members from both Houses was looking into the issue of whether to allow a debate in Parliament or not, the Congress demand at this juncture was not in order.

Mr Advani did not settle the matter and agitated Congress members were on their feet once again demanding a JPC probe.

Several members trooped into the well of the House and started raising slogans demanding the setting up of a JPC.

The Speaker finally adjourned the House till 2 p.m. after Congress members refused to yield.

In the Rajya Sabha, Congress members raised a storm just after the start of Zero Hour, demanding an immediate discussion on the Bhagwat issue. " We want discussion," Congress members shouted, trying to draw the attention of the Chair to the decision taken by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to debate the issue today.

From the BJP several members got up and said Congress members wanted to stall the proceedings of the House on flimsy grounds. Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra pointed out that the government had no problem in discussing the Bhagwat issue but it had been decided to have a discussion on the Railway Budget.

The Congress Chief Whip, Mr Pranab Mukherjee got up to point out that notice for the discussion had been given under Rule 168 and the same had been admitted by the Chairman under Rule 170. "If the members want to express their opinion collectively through a substantive motion, they should be allowed to do so." He added, " if you want to transact business of the House, please allow a discussion on the issue."

Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan, quoting the rules said if a motion was admitted in the House, it was for the Chairman to fix the time and date for a discussion in consultation with the Leader of the House. He also contended that the minutes of the BAC meetings could not be made public in the House.

Then, the Chairman also went through the rule book and told Congress members that should not have disclosed the minutes of the BAC meeting in the House. " Minutes of the committee meetings are treated as confidential and disclosing these is not fair. You should not have done that," he told Opposition members, who earlier did not allow the Chairman to speak for some time. Mr Krishan Kant repeatedly said: " When the Chairman is standing all others must sit."

Amid heated exchanges, certain remarks by Mr Pramod Mahajan against the Congress evoked strong protests from Congress members and some of them trooped into the well of the House that the remarks of Mr Mahajan be expunged. The comment was expunged by the Chair.

The Chairman then told the members that he had asked the Leader of the House to convey to him the government’s convenience for a discussion on the Bhagwat issue, but he was yet to receive a reply from him.

This led to another round of protests from Congress members, forcing the Chairman to adjourn the House till 2 pm.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and CPI leader Indrajit Gupta have declined to head the group of MPs from both Houses which will be set up to decide the parameters for the discussion in the Lok Sabha on charges levelled by Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and whether to debate his dismissal, a PTI report said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.R.Kumaramangalam told reporters the informal group of leaders met this morning and inconclusively discussed the issues thrown up by the dismissal.

Deadlock at panel’s meeting
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 16 — Deadlock persisted at the meeting of the group of senior leaders from both Houses of Parliament here today to decide on the issue of discussion on Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat’s dismissal.

The group now expanded to include 16 MPs from the Lok Sabha and eight from the Rajya Sabha will meet again tomorrow with major Opposition parties insisting on having discussion and the government preferring not to have a debate saying it was a sensitive issue.

With the Congress and the Left insisting on having a discussion in the House on the dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat, not much headway could be made at the meeting which was convened by the Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi in his chamber.

The BJP on the other hand wanted that the group of leaders could go through files relating to the dismissal instead of having a discussion on the floor of the House in view of the sensitivity of the matter, sources said.

Former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav suggested at the meeting that the panel could form a sub-group to peruse the files pertaining to the dismissal but there were no takers from other opposition groups particularly the Congress, the CPI and the CPM.

Former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda also preferred to have a discussion on the dismissal on the floor while the TDP leader, Mr K. Yerranaidu said the issue could be studied by the group leaders as the matter was sensitive instead of debating it in the House.

Earlier, the Speaker Mr Balayogi suggested that Mr Chandra Shekhar should head the panel but the latter declined on the grounds that his views were well-known.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr P.R. Kumaramangalam, said the group of leaders would meet again tomorrow to decide who would head since Mr Chandra Shekhar had refused to take charge. The responsibility could fall on Mr Indrajit Gupta, sources said.

The 24-member panels includes Mr Chandra Shekhar, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, Mr I.K. Gujral, all former Prime Ministers, Mr Sharad Pawar (Leader of the Opposition), Mr Shiv Shankar (Deputy leader of the Opposition), Prof P.J. Kurien (Chief Whip Congress), Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party chief), Mr K. Yerranaidu (TDP), Mr Indrajit Gupta (CPI), Mr Somnath Chaterjee (CPM), Mr L.K. Advani, Mr George Fernandes, Mr P.R. Kumaramangalam, Mr Ram Naik (all ministers), Mr B C Khanduri (Chief Whip, BJP) and Mr Kamal Chaudhary (Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Defence).

The Rajya Sabha members include, Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Dr Manmohan Singh (both Congress), Dr Raja Ramanna (Independent), Mr Chittaranjan (CPM), Mr E. Balanandan (CPI), Mr Ajit Shirodkar (Shiv Sena), Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) and Mr Sikander Bakht (Minister).

No discussion on Bhagwat: BJP
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Mar 16 — The BJP today declared that it was not prepared to have a discussion on the issue of the dismissal of the former Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat in Parliament as it was a sensitive issue impinging on the national security.

Answering a question on the issue, the BJP spokesman, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, said the issue of the dismissal of the former Naval chief was "a sensitive issue concerning the security of the country".

However, if the group of senior leaders of the two Houses of Parliament set up by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in consultation with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, recommended a discussion on the issue then it would be a different matter, Mr Naidu pointed out.

"We are prepared to go by the combined wisdom of the group of leaders", Mr Naidu said adding that the government was ready to have a discussion on the allegations of corruption levelled by the former Admiral.

Lashing out at the Congress for its stand on the Bhagwat issue in the two Houses of Parliament, the BJP leader said the Congress was acting out of frustration.