New Delhi, November 19
The removal of Ms Maneka Gandhi from the Culture Ministry on the eve of the important winter session of Parliament is being construed in political circles as an effort by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to placate Congress President Sonia Gandhi whose party’s support will be crucial for the government to carry through the ambitious legislative business it has set for itself in the session.
The government plans to bring as many as 30 Bills including POTO, in this session which will have just 23 sittings. Some of the Bills have been pending with the standing committees for over a year. Convinced that the Opposition would not relent on POTO and its early introduction could lead to a stalemate in Parliament, there is thinking in the government of bringing the controversial legislation in the last week of the current session.
The Prime Minster’s decision to remove Ms Maneka Gandhi from the Culture Ministry came a day after she went on air criticising the functioning of various organisations in which Mrs Sonia Gandhi is associated and which come under the purview of the Culture Ministry. The attack on Mrs Sonia Gandhi was viewed in political circles as personal and one which publicly reflected the differences between the two “bahus” of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Sources said the Congress had conveyed to the government that it should allow the POTO ordinance to lapse and bring the
legislation in the next session of Parliament after consultations. There was thinking in the Congress that the Assembly elections would be over by the time the POTO Bill came up for debate in the next session of Parliament and the party would be in a position to adopt a more flexible approach on the issue.
Congress leaders had also made it known to the government that it was not possible for them to come down on POTO after having decided to oppose it tooth and nail. Other parties, including the Left and the Samajwadi Party, had made known their opposition to POTO.
The sources said the move to hold an all-party meeting on the issue had also been dropped.
Though the Congress leaders today termed the removal of Ms Maneka Gandhi “as a prerogative of the Prime Minister,” there was a sense of satisfaction among them.
