The Hindu : National : Lalu should resign: Vajpayee

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Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005

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National

Lalu should resign: Vajpayee

New Delhi Bureau

I will, if there is a law to that effect, says Railway Minister

NEW DELHI: Business in both Houses of Parliament was disrupted for the second day in a row on Tuesday over the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, with the Opposition demanding that he withdraw his "allegations" against Sangh Parivar organisations in his suo motu statement in Parliament on the train accident near Vadodara. Leading the Opposition charge was the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also wanted Mr. Prasad to take moral responsibility for the accident and resign from the Union Cabinet.

The demand for withdrawing portions in the statement charging the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad with attacking him during his visit to the accident site was rejected by Mr. Prasad in both Houses. As for his resignation, Mr. Prasad told the Rajya Sabha he would be willing to resign if there was a law to this effect. Also, he sought to know why Mr. Vajpayee had not dismissed the Modi Government after the Gujarat carnage.

Minister's counter

Referring to the Opposition demand for his resignation after charges were framed against him in a fodder scam case, Mr. Prasad in the Rajya Sabha quoted Mr. Vajpayee's statement of December 7, 1999, while defending continuation of L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti as Central Ministers after charge sheets were filed against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the ground that filing of charge sheets was not sufficient reason for removal of the Ministers.

This was reiterated by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Suresh Pachauri, in the Rajya Sabha, during the course of the day. Also, reacting to the Leader of the Opposition, Jaswant Singh's observations against Mr. Prasad, he said, instead of targeting the Railway Minister, the House should have debated the responsibility of State Governments in providing security to visiting Union Ministers.

While the Lok Sabha was adjourned five times without conducting any business except the tabling of papers, the Rajya Sabha saw a sharp deterioration in relations between the ruling and opposition benches to the extent that some members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had to be physically restrained during Question Hour. However, business was conducted in the afternoon in the Upper House after the Opposition staged a walkout.

Though Opposition members referred to the fodder scam in their slogans against Mr. Prasad in the Lok Sabha, the former Prime Minister confined himself to the accident and the related suo motu statement while addressing the House amid interruptions. Intervening after the first adjournment, Mr. Vajpayee — referring to his own association with the RSS — said the Railway Minister should have been more responsible while preparing the statement instead of making such accusations. Demanding Mr. Prasad's resignation on moral grounds, Mr. Vajpayee said: "If this House has to run, then a minister like Lalu Prasad should not be there."

Echoing Mr. Vajpayee's views in the post-lunch session, the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, said Bihar had been freed of a "leader who had destroyed it for 15 years." This plunged the House into further chaos with RJD members protesting the statement as the BJP again laid a siege of the well of the House resulting in three successive adjournments.

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