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Govt yields to Opposition pressure, Parliament to discuss Bhagwat issue

The government today conceded the Opposition demand to have a discussion in Parliament on the corruption charges against Defence Minister George Fernandes levelled by the sacked naval chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat.

The government also agreed to have a discussion on the charges of underhand dealings levelled by Mohan Guruswamy, former advisor to Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.

The decision was taken at an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi today.

The discussion in the Lok Sabha on the corruption charges levelled by Admiral Bhagwat would be held under Rule 193 which does not permit voting, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee said after the meeting.

In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition stalled proceedings today demanding fixing of time for discussion on the allegations levelled by bhagawat and Guruswamy, finally forcing the house to be adjourned for the day.

As soon as the house reassembled at 1600 hrs after the first adjournment, the opposition members alleged that the government was not serious to discuss these issues for which the chair had admitted the opposition sponsored motions.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs S K Gangwar informed the house that the government had no hesitation in discussing these two issues for which time will be fixed by the business advisory committee of the house. However the opposition members remained unsatisfied and continued to disrupt the proceedings for over 45 minutes.

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha also clarified that the government had no hesitation in discussing these issues. ''We are prepared to discuss thousand Guruswamys in this house'', he declared.

Deputy chairperson Najma Heptulla who was to have attended the BAC meeting had to adjourn the house for the day due to disruptions and Parliamentary Affairs Minister R Kumaramangalam could not complete his statement. The house will meet tomorrow at 11 am.

Earlier, the Opposition continued its offensive on the government on the dismissals of former naval chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and Mohan Guruswamy, former adviser to the finance minister, and even prevented Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from speaking on the subject in the Rajya Sabha today, forcing the chair to adjourn the House till 1600 hours.

''We want JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee),'' the Opposition members shouted in chorus during zero hour, paying no attention to Chairman Krishan Kant's plea to maintain the dignity of the House.

The prime minister was responding to Leader of the Opposition Manmohan Singh and others who wanted a discussion in the House on the dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat and the allegations levelled by Guruswamy.

Vajpayee's repeated attempts to speak went in vain as the Opposition members refused to resume their seats.

There were sharp exchanges between the Opposition members and those on the treasury benches. '' Sharam karo, sharam karo (shame, shame),'' the Bharatiya Janata Party members shouted as the prime minister silently watched the ugly scenes.

Leader of the House and Industry Minister Sikandar Bakht lost his patience and shouted, ''Don't show your eyes'', when Communist Party of India-Marxist members Mohammed Salim and Nilotpal Basu cried that the security of the nation was not safe in the hands of the BJP-led coalition government.

As Dr Singh and senior Opposition members sat silently, Congress members Vyalar Ravi and Suresh Pachouri, Communist Party of India member Jalauddin Ansari, Rashtriya Janata Dal member Saroj Dubey and many others on the Opposition benches refused to pay any attention to the pleas of the chair to maintain the dignity of the House.

The prime minister sought the chair's permission to leave the House as he was scheduled to meet a foreign delegation. The chairman, left with no option because of unruly scenes, adjourned the House till 1600 hours.

Earlier, raising the matter, Dr Singh said the issues raised by Admiral Bhagwat and Guruswamy had caused a great deal of worry and concern to members of Parliament and the public at large. He was of the view that the two issues should be discussed in the House through a susbstantive motion under Article 176.

Dr Singh denied that the Opposition had given any assurance to the government not to raise these issues in Parliament at their meeting with the prime minister, as was being made out by the government. ''We had given no such commitment to the government... Even now we feel both the issues should be discussed.''

He said it would be in the fitness of things if the government cleared the doubts of the Opposition on the allegations made by Admiral Bhagwat and Guruswamy.

Biplab Dasgupta (CPI-M) also sought to dispel any impression that the Opposition had assured the government that it would not raise the two issues in Parliament.

Ish Dutt Yadav (SP) said the security of the nation was critical. The government must clarify the reasons for the sacking of Admiral Bhagwat.

Thereafter, the prime minister reiterated his offer to show to the chairman the papers connected with the dismissals of Admiral Bhagwat and Guruswamy. He wanted the Opposition to understand the sensitivity of the situation since the issues concerned the security of the state.

This was when the Opposition members got up and started shouting, forcing the chair to adjourn the House.

The Lok Sabha too witnessed uproarious scenes for nearly 20 minutes during zero hour when the Congress members insisted that the House take up corruption charges against Defence Minister George Fernandes. But the ruling party members retorted saying that issue of fictitious voting by a Congress member on the Bihar resolution be discussed forthwith.

When the ruling party members blocked P Shiv Shankar (Congress) from raising the issue of corruption charges against Fernandes for over 15 minutes, things threatened to go out of control as several Congress members stormed into the well of the House protesting against the behaviour of the treasury benches.

Shiv Shankar and P J Kurien had a tough time in forcing party members to resume their seats.

Shiv Shankar who spoke after order was restored in the House charged the ruling party with attempting to gag the Opposition from raising the issue of corruption. It was unfortunate, he said, that senior ministers remained passive spectators when the treasury benches defied Speaker G M C Balayogi.

The Congress member said that, despite the meeting called by the Speaker today to discuss how the issue could be taken up in the House, the government had resorted to selective leaks in the media to derive unfair advantage. It has also involved the defence forces in a slanging match, he said apparently referring to the statement made by Army Chief General V P Malik refuting the charges made by Admiral Bhagwat.

UNI

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