Pranab Mukherjee.

NEW DELHI: The Government on Friday informed the Lok Sabha that there was no question of compromising with the professional, apolitical and secular character of India's armed forces as was being made out by the Opposition which wanted the uniformed services to be kept out of the survey being undertaken for a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in the country.

In the absence of a positive reply from Leader of the House and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to his demand for exempting the armed forces from the survey, Leader of the Opposition L. K. Advani led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in a walk-out after accusing the Government of indulging in "vote-bank politics."

Mr. Mukherjee hotly contested the charge and said the boot was on the other foot. Reminding the BJP of its track-record on the Ayodhya issue right up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, he said: "If any party is guilty of vote-bank politics, it is the BJP."

The heated exchange between the two capped the pre-lunch proceedings in the House, exercised by the survey. With the Opposition demand for suspension of question hour to discuss the issue being turned down by the Chair, BJP members picketed the well till Speaker Somnath Chatterjee agreed to a brief adjournment on the intervention of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Though the NDA spoke in one voice during the hour-long discussion that ensued after the truncated question hour, the BJP members were not joined by the others when they rushed to the well.

At the start of the day's proceedings, the BJP was also not prepared to listen to Mr. Mukherjee's clarification on the issue. However, it was later decided that Mr. Advani would initiate a discussion after which the Government would respond.

Describing the survey as a "communal headcount," Mr. Advani urged the Government not to stand on prestige. Poverty and backwardness are non-sectarian issues and should not be seen through the prism of faith, he said.

Questioning the purpose of the survey when the report of a similar exercise carried out in 1980 had not been implemented, Mohammad Salim (Communist Party of India-Marxist) took a dig at the Government, citing "an old saying which states that where there is a will, there is a way and where this no will there is a survey." However, Mr. Salim said the Government should not allow the criticism to push it away from its chosen path of uplifting the downtrodden. Similar views were expressed by Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) who said while the cause was noble, the method adopted was wrong.

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