Search the Internet           Tips

Oppn unlikely to back down on Ayodhya

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Opposition led by the Congress on Thursday gave sufficient indication that it would continue to disrupt proceedings in both Houses of Parliament to demand an apology from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his controversial reference to the temple in Ayodhya.

"The Congress, CPI, CPI-M, RJD and AIADMK today met to discuss the situation arising out of Prime Minister Vajpayee's statement on the work being left incomplete in Ayodhya. This is totally unacceptable to us as it is an insult to the people and the country's secular fabric. The prime minister must apologise to the nation," Congress politician Ghulam Nabi Azad told rediff.com

Azad earlier told reporters that his party would move a motion for discussion of "Vajpayee's clean chit" to his Cabinet colleagues Lal Kishenchand Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, who have been charged with criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special court in Lucknow.

"By giving a clean chit to his three ministers, the prime minister is trying to influence the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and the court. The CBI is under the direct control of the prime minister and the government is trying to exert pressure on the [demolition] case," he said.

But Vajpayee told reporters at an iftaar party hosted by central minister Shah Nawaz Hussain that his statement on Wednesday was neither meant to influence the CBI nor the special court and that the Opposition was trying to exaggerate its impact.

The Congress furnished the chargesheet of the special court in Lucknow indicting the three central ministers and underscored that by defending them, Vajpayee had poured fat into the fire.

Madhavrao Scindia, deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, demanded the prime minister's resignation for making "the controversial statement". Azad, however, said it was his party colleague's personal views.

"No, we feel that since the prime minister himself has ripped off his government's communal agenda by making the statement, we demand that he either apologise or we will continue our protest," said Somnath Chatterjee, leader of the Communist Party of India, Marxist, in the Lok Sabha.

"The government ought to be ashamed for the prime minister making the communal statement and we will disrupt the proceedings unless he apologises to the nation," Rashtriya Janata Dal politician Raghuvansh Prasad Singh contended.

Thursday saw the Opposition in both Houses hell-bent on disrupting the proceedings. In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition led by Samajwadi Party members rushed to the well of the House, demanding that Vajpayee apologise for his controversial statement. The angry treasury benches reciprocated with slogans of "Desh ka neta kaisa ho, Atal Bihari jaisa ho."

It took Speaker G M C Balayogi barely five minutes to adjourn the House for the day amidst the deafening pandemonium. The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned at the same time by Chairman Krishna Kant.

The adjournment of the two Houses caused BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra to observe that the Opposition members' conduct was unprecedented since Independence. He maintained that rushing to the well even before the House convened for business and not allowing the speaker to speak had lowered the dignity of the House.

The Opposition's insistence that Vajpayee apologise for his statement and the BJP's determination to prevent any such eventuality has enhanced the possibility of Parliament being adjourned for the fifth consecutive day on Friday without any business being transacted.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report