Bill on Vananchal introduced
LS adjourned repeatedly
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 23 — The Lok Sabha’s winter session was today adjourned sine die abruptly amid noisy protests by members belonging to the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party over introduction of the Bill for creation of Vananchal.

The House today as yesterday witnessed noisy scenes with members belonging to the SP and the RJD trooping into the well of the House which resulted in repeated adjournments. Yet the government managed to introduce the Bill which was held back yesterday.

As the House assembled after three adjournments, the RJD and SP members once again protested raising slogans against the "division of Bihar" and demanding withdrawal of the States Reorganisation Bill creating Vananchal out of Bihar.

The abrupt adjournment scuttled the passage of the Patents Bill which was passed by the Rajya Sabha last night. It was expected to be taken by the Lok Sabha today, but was deferred due to paucity of time till the next session.

The government which held the Vananchal Bill yesterday after introducing those relating to creation of Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh, today introduced it.

Tumultuous scenes were witnessed at the start of the day’s proceedings which resulted in two adjournments. Soon after the House assembled at 1400 hours, the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, introduced the Bill as slogan-shouting RJD and SP members stormed the well of the House demanding withdrawal of the legislation.

"Bihar ka batwara nahin chalega" was the slogan raised by some members. Meanwhile the Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, asked the ministers to lay the papers listed against their names on the table of the House and later the Home Minister introduced the Vananchal Bill which was approved by voice vote.

Soon after, the Speaker adjourned the House for the third time as the SP and RJD members continued to raise slogans. When the House reassembled at 1500 hours, the Samajwadi Party leader, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav pleaded with the Chair that the Vananchal Bill had been introduced in violation of rules and procedures of the House and it should be deemed as not introduced.

Mr Yadav also said that several members had given a notice opposing the Bill and that they were not given an opportunity to express their views.

The Speaker allowed Mr Basudev Acharia of the CPM, Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mr Ajit Kumar Mehta, both of the RJD, and Mr V Radhakrishnan of the CPM to speak.

While these members objected to the manner in which the Bill was introduced and demanded its withdrawal, the House witnessed another spell of uproar when the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, said had there been order, the members who had given the notice would have been given the opportunity to express their views.

He said since the House witnessed noisy scenes, the members could not avail of the opportunity and even before the minister could complete, the RJD and SP members stood up in protest.

Meanwhile, two BJP women members of the Lok Sabha from Bihar today gave notice of breach of privilege against RJD members including the group leader, Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, for allegedly manhandling them in the House yesterday on the issue of the Vananchal Bill, according to a PTI report.

Ms Rita Verma and Ms Abha Mahato told mediapersons that the notice had been given to the Speaker alleging that four RJD members had lowered the dignity of the House by their conduct.

Other members against whom the notice had been given were Mr Surendra Yadav (Jhanjharpur), Mr M.A.A. Fatmi (Darbhanga) and Mr Surendra Yadav (Jehanabad).

Ms Verma said she and Ms Mahato had moved to the well to "protect" the Bill being introduced by Home Minister L.K. Advani from being torn as they saw the RJD members menacingly rush towards Mr Advani.

"We would not have gone there if marshals had been deployed to ensure the smooth introduction of the Bill", she said justifying her action as also that of Ms Mahato.

Ms Verma said what had been witnessed in the House yesterday was part of a "well thought out strategy" by the RJD which was often employed by RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav in the Bihar Assembly.

Budget session to be advanced

NEW DELHI, Dec 23 (UNI) — The Patents Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha in a late night sitting yesterday, is to be taken up in the Lok Sabha during the eusuing Budget session which will be called ahead of schedule.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana told a press conference there this afternoon that this had been decided in consultation with other parties which wanted more time to study the Bill as some had to move amendments.

He said that the President this morning signed the Bill as approved by the Rajya Sabha and the government was prepared to circulate it today itself to members of Parliament. However, no agreement could be reached on the meeting earlier than the Budget session for this purpose.

Mr Khurana said the government was clear it would not attempt to force any legislation and was prepared for a full discussion in the House. It was, hence, agreed to summon the Budget session earlier than usual. (The session normally commences in the third week of February).

The minister criticised Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party members for the events in the House today as, he said, it had been made clear to them yesterday that the Bihar Reorganisation Bill for creation of Vananchal was to be considered by the Cabinet at an informal meet this morning.

He said the leaders of the RLM who were insisting on a meeting with Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani this afternoon had been told the government would bring the Bill in the next session.

At the informal Cabinet meeting to which party members from the Vananchal region had also been invited, it was unanimously decided to introduce the Bill today itself. It was felt that not introducing the Bill today would result in far-reaching and serious consequences. In any case, the Bill could also be discussed when it went to the standing committee of Parliament.

The minister said while the members had a right to object when any Bill was introduced, it was wrong to physically obstruct the proceedings.

Further, this would send the wrong signal to the people. He said no Bill of this nature had been stopped at the introduction stage since 1952.

ABVP flays govt on Patents Bill

MUMBAI, Dec 23 (PTI) — The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today lambasted the BJP-led coalition government for bowing to pressure from the USA and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by hurrying the Patents Bill in the Rajya Sabha and piloting the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill in Parliament.

"The central government should have ensured exhaustive public debate on the issues of amendments to the Patents Bill and opening up the insurance sector to foreign equity before the Bills were introduced in Parliament", ABVP national general secretary Mahendra Kumar told mediapersons here.

The issue of the USA and the WTO pressurising India on the patents and insurance issues would be incorporated in a special resolution at ABVP's three-day golden jubilee year national conference slated to begin at Yashwantrao Kelkar Nagar at Sion in north-east Mumbai on December 25.

On the recent statement by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani that Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir would not be scrapped, Mr Mahendra Kumar said this provision would have to be struck down if the border state was to be integrated with the rest of the country.

The ABVP is the students' wing of the BJP.

The ABVP would also adopt a resolution on education seeking a review of Article 30 that grants right to minorities to run educational institutions.

The national executive council of the ABVP, which began its deliberations today, would give a final shape to the resolutions on education and the national scene after considering various amendments.

The resolution on education was expected to decry the "politicisation of the controversy over singing of "Vande Mataram" and "Saraswati vandana", the ABVP leader said.

An estimated 15,000 delegates from all over the country would participate in the conference which would adopt a "charter of students for national reconstruction."