UF govt suffers another setback in Parliament

The United Front government suffered yet another setback in Parliament on Thursday when the BJP blocked the passage of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha through a statutory resolution.

The BJP ignored a vehement appeal by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, and insisted that the statutory resolution, moved by Satish Agarwal and V K Malhotra, be put to vote. The resolution sought to disapprove the Presidential ordinance on the subject.

Sensing that the BJP members outnumbered those on the treasury benches, the government did not press for a division on the statutory resolution. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Najma Heptulla announced that the motion moved by Agarwal in support of his statutory resolution was passed.

This is the second time on two consecutive days that the government had to suffer embarrassment in Parliament. On Wednesday, the BJP and the Left parties forced the government to withdraw the Insurance Regulatory Authority bill in the Lok Sabha.

Despite frantic efforts by Union ministers S Jaipal Reddy, Srikant Jena and Renuka Choudhary, the treasury benches could not muster a majority with the Congress benches empty because of the AICC plenary session in Calcutta.

At one stage, Choudhary requested the chair that the House be adjourned since she had to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee even as many UF members were seen asking BJP members not to press for a division.

After the debate on the statutory resolution and the bill were completed, Agarwal was asked to speak on his resolution.

In his fiery speech, Agarwal lambasted the government for ''ruling the country through ordinances''. He came down heavily on the prime minister, saying Gujral always spoke about consensus, but did not practice it.

Later, the prime minister reiterated that he was a practitioner of consensus-building. Gujral said ordinances had been promulgated in the country since Parliament came into existence. ''No party in India can claim that it has never passed an ordinance, at the Centre or in the states,'' he said, appealing to the BJP to withdraw the resolution.

However, the BJP members wanted immediate voting on the resolution without any delay. Sensing the BJP's mood, the prime minister and his ministerial colleagues said they had no objection to putting the resolution to vote, when the BJP members demanded a division. But the treasury benches did not insist on a division and accepted defeat before the House was adjourned for the day.

Later in the day, the Front government said it would bring forward a new bill on the presidential and vice-presidential elections.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jena said the timing of the new bill would be decided in tandem with the law ministry. He refused to say whether the bill would be brought forward in the current session of Parliament.

The defeat of the bill will not affect the August 16 vice-presidential elections.

Jena said the BJP had promised to support the legislation and its volte face, disregarding the prime minister's appeal, seemed inexplicable.

UNI