New Delhi, July 27
The NDA today emitted truce signals to end impasse on its stand to boycott various Parliamentary Committees suggesting that the UPA should withdraw the “offensive” statement of Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee from records where he had condemned the Opposition on the last day before the Parliament went in recess.

“Mere telephone calls from UPA leaders to NDA leaders seeking to end the deadlock will not help...The only possible solution to break the deadlock immediately is to ensure that the statement of condemnation of Opposition is withdrawn,” a senior NDA leader told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

“In a democratic set-up there is a rightful space for the Opposition and the government of the day, led by the Congress, can’t expect the Opposition to cooperate when it does not respect the Opposition and condemns it through a statement on the floor of the House,” he said, adding “It has never happened in the history of Parliament that the Leader of the House, without prior notice to the Chair, reads out a statement out rightly condemning the Opposition.”

Giving his individual opinion, another leader said one of the options to break the ice could be that UPA leaders, in consultation with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and NDA leaders, agree to withdraw the statement made by Mr Mukherjee from the records of the House and also heated remarks made by some of the NDA leaders should also be withdrawn.

“The ball is in the UPA’s court and it is up to them whether they want the Opposition...If they want to adopt confrontationist attitude then the NDA also will remain stubborn,” he warned.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had telephoned Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj, respectively, seeking their cooperation and urging them to reverse NDA’s decision to boycott Parliamentary Committees.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference here, BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu accused the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, of not diagnosing the situation properly.

“The Prime Minister has called the NDA’s decision to stay away from the Standing and Consultative Committees as reckless and irresponsible...The good ‘Doctor’ has clearly not diagnosed the situation properly,” he said.

“Before criticising the NDA and its decision to stay from the Standing and Consultative Committees, let the Congress and Communist leaders introspect on what has forced the Opposition to take this step most reluctantly and as a matter of last resort,” Mr Naidu said, adding “Let them give up their confrontationist approach and stop inflicting further damage to our system of parliamentary democracy.”

“The BJP and our allies in the NDA have said right from the beginning that we are prepared to play the role of a constructive Opposition, and to cooperate with the government on issues of national interest and people’s welfare. However, this is possible only if the government sincerely indicates that it wants to pursue a consensus approach and creates the right atmosphere for it,” he said.

Justifying the NDA’s decision to boycott and its conduct in Parliament on the Soren issue, Mr Naidu said “The fact that the Prime Minister had to call Shibu Soren’s private secretary late at night to demand his resignation, only after the NDA had intensified its campaign against the tainted minister, speaks of the ridiculous way in which the UPA government is being run.”