The Hindu : Front Page : 'Tainted Ministers' issue rocks Parliament again

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Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

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Front Page

'Tainted Ministers' issue rocks Parliament again

By Our New Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8. Parliament had to be adjourned today as the Opposition stepped up its protest over the inclusion of "tainted Ministers" in the Union Council of Ministers. Proceedings were disrupted in both Houses soon after the motion of thanks to the President's Address was moved with the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee, leading the Opposition charge in the Lok Sabha.

Trouble began in the Lok Sabha when Raghunath Jha (RJD) brought up the "in-house study of the defence establishment" on the Kargil war, which blamed the then political leadership for delaying the use of air power. The Opposition was immediately on its feet and moved into the well of the House even as the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, allowed the former Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to respond. However, with members of the ruling benches joining issue with the Opposition, Mr. Fernandes could not mention a word. When the Speaker's repeated appeals to allow Mr. Fernandes to speak fell on deaf ears, he moved on with the business of the day and asked Pawan Kumar Bansal (Congress) to move the motion of thanks to the President's Address. Mr. Bansal said amid din: "By calling for an early election, the BJP had pleaded with the people for euthanasia and their plea has been heard."

The motion was seconded by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who forcefully made out a case for the Government's position as articulated by the President in his Address. Refusing to be "cowed down" by the Opposition, he said: "I wish they would have felt so agitated when farmers were committing suicide." All the time, the Opposition kept up its sloganeering; alternating between "Daagi mantri hatao, desh bachao (``Remove tainted ministers and save the nation") and "Manmohan Singh shame-shame."

Though the Leader of the Opposition, L. K. Advani, made some attempt at first to dissuade the NDA members from moving into the well of the House, both he and the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, quietly watched as Ms. Banerjee led the campaign.

Furore in Rajya Sabha

In the Rajya Sabha, no sooner had the Congress member, Karan Singh, moved a resolution on the motion of thanks to the President's Address, than the Deputy Leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj (BJP), was on her feet seeking an explanation from the Prime Minister, who was not present in the House, on the "tainted Ministers.'' She said the ruling party members had stopped the Leader of the Opposition, Jaswant Singh, from speaking in the House yesterday. "When we were in power and the then Leader of Opposition spoke, we heard him in silence. Yesterday, Mr. Jaswant Singh was not allowed to speak."

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