'Govt. flouting conventions'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 1. The Opposition today expressed concern over the premature adjournment of the Rajya Sabha and blamed the Government for flouting conventions of parliamentary practice by not permitting the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Manmohan Singh, to seek clarifications.

In an unusual move, the Opposition leaders issued a joint statement blaming the Government for the adjournment of the House, when the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, was replying to the debate on UTI US-64 fiasco.

They were critical of Mr. Sinha and said he had flouted the time- honoured convention of yielding to the Leader of the Opposition when the latter sought permission to seek some clarifications. Despite repeated enquiries, the Finance Minister continued to display his ``intransigence and refused to yield''.

(The stalemate occurred after Mr. Sinha began listing the improprieties committed by the UTI during the tenure of previous Governments. Although he maintained that he was not targeting Dr. Singh, the Opposition felt Mr. Sinha was deviating from the issue.)

Releasing the statement, the Congress leader, Mr. Mukherjee, said the Opposition had been cooperating with the Government and reminded the passage of resolution approving imposition of President's rule in Manipur.

Even today Dr. Manmohan Singh had outlined the cooperation by opposition after the question hour, the statement said. The adjournment before lunch subsequently was forced by the treasury benches without any rhyme or reason and in the post- lunch session, the Opposition did not raise any point of clarification after the Prime Minister's statement, as was the convention ``even though he raised more questions than provided answers''.

Referring to Mr. Sinha's reply, the leaders said that he did not find it fit to respond to a ``single cogent'' issue, particularly pertaining to the accountability of the Government not only to the House but to the two crore investors who have been cheated. ``A large number of such issues were raised by members during the six hours debate but the Finance Minister chose to ignore them''.

The signatories included, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Pranab Mukherjee (both Congress), Mr. Chittaranjan (CPI), Mr. Nilotpal Basu (CPI-M), Mr. Prem Chand Gupta and Ms. Saroj Dubey (both RJD), Mr. Manoj Bhattacharya (RSP), Mr. Peter Alphonse (TMC), Mr. P.G. Narayanan (AIADMK) and Mr. Balwant Singh Ramoowalia (United Parliamentary Group).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Hurriyat ready to cooperate: Geelani
Next     : Opposition united against Sinha