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Lok Sabha okays motion of thanks for President's address

Parliament today passed the motion of thanks to the President for his address to the joint sitting of both Houses, with the Lok Sabha approving it with a voice vote in a late-night sitting concluded by the reply of Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani to the debate.

Advani rejected the suggestion of some opposition members that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is a minority government.

He pointed out that this was the first time since 1984 that the President had not asked the prime minister to take a floor test. The National Democratic Alliance government is a majority government as the President did not direct Vajpayee to seek a vote of confidence while inviting him to form the government. On the preceding six occasions, the President had always asked the prime minister to seek a vote of confidence from the Lok Sabha.

On the issue of electoral reforms, Advani said the government would take into consideration the reports of the Dinesh Goswami and Indrajit Gupta committees and the Law Commission.

He promised appropriate action on various points raised by Mani Shankar Aiyar and other members who had referred to the Bofors chargesheet. He also said he appreciated the sentiments expressed by Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi about the reference to Rajiv Gandhi in the chargesheet.

Advani also assured the House that the government would actively pursue with Bangladesh the earlier decision of the two countries to exchange the enclaves that fall in each other's territory and give the people living there the choice of citizenship.

About 30 members took part in the discussion, which lasted almost 12 hours spread over three days. Advani said at the outset that the discussion had been very positive and of a high order.

He said it would not be appropriate to make any statement on the alleged intelligence failure with regard to the Pakistani intrusions in Kargil, as the high-level committee set up by the government to examine the issue was still continuing its work.

But he said it was clear that the bravery of the jawans and the right decisions taken by the leadership at the Centre had helped to not only defeat Pakistan on the battlefield, but also on the diplomatic front.

He said the government had first learnt of the intrusion on May 8 and had taken immediate action.

The minister took exception to remarks by some members that Pakistan had been forced to vacate the occupied areas by the United States, and said this was an insult to the bravery of the Indian soldiers.

He said the entire area had already been cleared of the intruders when former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharief visited the United States. It was clear that Pakistan had "misjudged our system and our people", he said.

Advani also referred to the spirit of nationalism created during Operation Vijay, and said even small decisions like refusing permission to cross the Line of Control, or sending all the martyrs' bodies home for the last rites and their projection on the electronic media had greatly roused patriotism among the people.

Similarly, the Lahore bus journey had helped in swinging a lot of public opinion in India's favour.

While reiterating the government's policy to set up a commission to review the Constitution, Advani suggested holding a special session in January next year to mark 50 years of the promulgation of the Constitution on January 26.

He said the commission would merely make recommendations, which would then be brought to Parliament for scrutiny. He also suggested that the special session in January could discuss a new policy to "rationalise the population" as promised by the President.

He said the reference to a fixed term was only with regard to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures and not the government. Furthermore, he assured that the basic principles of a secular, democratic republic would be upheld.

The minister said amid thumping of desks that India, which was left behind in the Industrial Revolution, would not be found wanting in the age of the new information technology and that was the reason for setting up a separate department for this purpose.

He also promised speedy action in bringing forward electoral reforms.

UNI

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