The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, May 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Red faces in BJP as Sena has way
Joshi’s election as Speaker today
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9
The BJP leadership had zeroed in on the Shiv Sena for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker primarily because the ally is the second largest entity in the NDA grouping with 15 Parliamentarians in the House.

This was facilitated with the TDP enjoying a larger block of 28 MPs and supporting the Vajpayee government from outside, declining the high office of Speaker because of Mr Vajpayee’s rejection of its demand to send Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi packing.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, who is all set to become the Lok Sabha Speaker, in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI photo

It was apparent that the gambit of BJP strategists was to divert attention by floating names from their own ranks as being strong contenders for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker to gain time for holding discussions with the Opposition to evolve a consensus on the issue.

This has, however, left a few red faces in the BJP, especially those whose names had been doing the rounds as being strong contenders for the post. They felt the embarrassment caused to them could have been avoided.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Manohar Joshi’s elevation as Speaker of the Lok Sabha is now certain as additional sets of nomination papers were filed before the noon deadline here today. The election is fixed for tomorrow.

Even as Mr Joshi paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after the nomination papers were filed, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray expressed happiness at the move. He said he would nominate his party’s nominee to replace Mr Joshi in Mr Vajpayee’s Cabinet.

Even as the Shiv Sena emerged as the dark horse in the race for the Speaker’s job, at no stage did the BJP throw its hat in the ring. This was essentially to avoid creating fresh fissures in its own ranks.

It is in this context that the 65-year-old Joshi’s choice for the Speakership assumes significance, of course not without Mr Thackeray’s due approval. The effort is also to appease the Shiv Sena and Mr Thackeray, in particular, whose penchant for taking a swipe at Mr Vajpayee has been causing uncomfortable moments for the BJP.

With Mr Joshi’s elevation as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha now a mere formality, the BJP has definitely bought valuable time, hemmed as it is on several fronts, including the continuing communal violence in Gujarat and the Opposition unrelenting in attacking the BJP-led NDA on the Gujarat issue as well as training its guns on Union Defence Minister George Fernandes.

The Congress stayed clear of jumping into the fray for the Speaker’s post. This was only expected as it already has its nominee in Mr P.M. Sayeed as the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is arriving here tomorrow on a two-day visit, primarily to mend fences with the BJP-led NDA after the hard stand adopted by the TDP on the prevailing communal situation in Gujarat.

Mr Naidu will call on the Prime Minister to apprise him of his political compulsions. He wants to keep the TDP’s relations with the BJP-led NDA on an even keel so that Andhra Pradesh is not accorded a step motherly treatment or starved of funds from the Centre.

Joshi’s nomination upsets CPM
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9
Left parties today disapproved Mr Manohar Joshi’s nomination for the Lok Sabha Speakership with the plea that the Shiv Sena was a “rabid communal party” and the move would send “disturbing signals”.

“At a time when the entire country is seriously concerned about the ongoing pogrom against minorities in Gujarat, the choice of the Speaker from the Shiv Sena sends disturbing signal and will adversely affect the image of Parliament which is a vital institution in the democratic system,” the CPM politburo said in a statement.

Recalling that Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had been disqualified by the Election Commission from exercising his franchise, it said the party’s “inflammatory communal stance” was well-known.

It said while the BJP had shown “contempt for secular democratic values”, its NDA partners had become “willing accomplices”.

In another statement, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said his party dissociated itself from the selection of the Speaker as the Shiv Sena was “a rabid communal party”.

“The Speaker has to be above narrow partisan interests and one who upholds the norms and forms of parliamentary democracy and the values of the Constitution”, Mr Bardhan said.