M A I N   N E W S

Opposition to discuss floor strategy tomorrow
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 16
Opposition parties will meet on August 18 to finalise the floor strategy to corner the NDA government on the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi.

The strategic move by the NDA government to field Defence Minister George Fernandes in the debate has caught the Opposition parties by surprise with the CPI calling for his boycott in the House and the Congress and the CPM keeping their cards close to the chest.

“We will meet like-minded parties on Monday to finalise the floor strategy and the Fernandes issue will also be taken then,” Mr Jaipal Reddy, Congress spokesperson, told The Tribune.

On the Fernandes issue, CPI leader Atul Kumar Ranjan said, “It is an attempt by a poetic PM to seek poetic consolation by fielding Mr Fernandes. He should be boycotted as in the past. It is an attempt by the NDA government to prevent substantive discussion on the no-confidence motion.”

Mr Reddy said the motion, the first against the Vajpayee -led NDA government, had been moved to expose acts of commission and omission of the government and its failure to fulfil promises.

Admitting that the Opposition did not have the numbers to bring down the government, he said the motion had been moved to expose the five-year “misrule” of the BJP-led NDA government.

“In a democracy, a no-confidence motion is the last weapon before Opposition parties to expose the government and its failures”, he said, but refused to divulge the details of the strategy, saying that it would be decided on the floor of the House.

Leaders of the Congress met this afternoon to discuss the party’s strategy. Mr Reddy said Ms Gandhi, who had moved the motion, would be initiating the debate. He said the party wanted a “comprehensive” discussion on all issues, including defence matters, which had rocked the proceedings of Parliament.

He indicated that major scams, including Tehelka, the UTI, BALCO, Telecom, petrol pump and misuse of the CBI, were likely to be raised by the Congress and its allies during the debate on the motion.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Manmohan Singh, and senior party leaders, Mr Arjun Singh, Mr Shivraj Patil, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Buta Singh, Mr Ahmed Patel, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and Mr S. Jaipal Reddy were among those who attended the meeting presided over by Ms Gandhi. Party chief whip in the Lok Sabha Priyaranjan Dasmunsi told reporters that issues relating to internal security, financial mismanagement, farmers’ plight and foreign policy would be the main subjects to be raised by the party during the debate.

Asked if the party’s comprehensive debate on these issues meant launching of the election campaign, Mr Dasmunsi said Prime Minister’s each and every speech was an election speech.

On Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s remarks that the opportunity would be used to highlight the achievements of the government, he said “the NDA government’s performance is being highlighted by the father of Haren Pandya”. Meanwhile, reports from Indore stated that the Nationalist Congress Party would support the Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion.