M A I N   N E W S

Opposition to take on government
on tainted ministers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 1
The BJP-led Opposition, receiving support from a "jilted" Samajwadi Party, is waiting with bated breath for Parliament session to begin tomorrow so that it can train its guns on the UPA government, pulling trigger at its "tainted" ministers.

While the first two days of the inaugural session of the 14th Lok Sabha will be devoted to oath-taking by newly elected members, the trouble is expected to erupt on June 4 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stands to introduce his Council of Ministers in the House.

The BJP has threatened to raise the issue of induction of persons, who have been chargesheeted or have criminal charges against them, both inside Parliament and outside.

An inkling of the Opposition aggression was available yesterday when JD(U) staged a dharna here to demand that the government drop the "tainted" ministers to keep its promise of providing corruption-free government.

The government has moved fast to avert a possible confrontation with the Opposition on the issue of the election of Speaker with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offering the post of Deputy Speaker to the Opposition to ensure the unanimous election of CPM veteran Somnath Chatterjee as Speaker.

The move comes in the wake of NDA convener George Fernandes' remarks that the Opposition planned to field P.A. Sangma as their candidate against Mr Chatterjee.

The Rajya Sabha will commence from June 4 and both Houses are scheduled till June 10.

Though the Prime Minister has taken up the stand that everyone is innocent till the person was convicted, the Opposition is unimpressed.

The argument by the Opposition is that the Congress had raised hue and cry in the last Lok Sabha over the continuance of some ministers even before they were chargesheeted.

The BJP also plans to corner the UPA government on the issues of hassles it faced in formulating a Common Minimum Programme with parties in the coalition openly bargaining for ministerial berths and portfolios and speaking in different voices.

The Opposition also plans to focus on Chairperson of the coordinating committee of the UPA Sonia Gandhi who is likely to be targeted for emerging as an "extra-constitutional" authority.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad appears to be unperturbed by the Opposition plans and is brushing aside any major trouble by the BJP and its allies. "If there is no sound and fury, then where is Parliament, where is democracy? There has to be some noise. There is a role for the Opposition," he said.

The session is likely to see former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee being made the Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party and subsequently that of the NDA and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani the Leader of the Opposition.

The highlight of the brief session will be the address by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to a joint sitting of both Houses on June 7. Discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address will be held for two days in the Rajya Sabha and three days in the Lok Sabha. 

A youthful Lok Sabha to meet today
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 1
The 14th Lok Sabha, which meets tomorrow for its first session, will sport a brand new look, in more ways than one. Not only does the House have a host of fresh, young newcomers but as many as 300 old familiar faces from the 13th Lok Sabha will not be spotted this time round as they were defeated in the recent election. The most visible change would be the seating arrangements of the two principal political parties. After a gap of eight years, the Congress was all set to move to the Treasury Benches while the BJP would revert to the Opposition after a brief sojourn in government. The Congress would be seen in a new avatar as it would take on the onerous task of heading a coalition government for the first time. The Congress also boasted of a host of debutant MPs, chief among them being Rahul Gandhi.

While the seating arrangements of the leaders of the various political parties was still being worked out, the new line-up of members on either side of the political divide promised interesting times ahead.

The BJP would find itself handicapped on several counts. Not only had its strength dropped from 182 to 138 but its allies like the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamool Congress too, had shrunk in numbers while the DMK was no longer with them. In addition, the BJP would also find itself bereft of strong orators. Most of its articulate speakers like Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitely, Arun Shourie, Sushma Swaraj and Ravi Prasad were in the Rajya Sabha.

While Mr. L.K.Advani, in his role as Leader of Opposition, would be at the forefront of the Opposition attack, he would have few people to help him in this task. He would be heavily dependent on the BJP’s more vociferous members like V.K.Malhotra and B.C.Khanduri. However, the BJP would be ably assisted by former Defence Minister George Fernandes and his party colleague Nitish Kumar, who both relished a good parliamentary battle.

The Congress, too, had a daunting task ahead. Not only would it has to fend off the barbed attacks from a determined Opposition, but it would have its hands full managing the Disparate groups of its rainbow coalition. However, the principal ruling party could draw solace from the fact that it had an impressive line-up of speakers. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also designated Leader of the Lok Sabha, who comes to the Lower House for the first time would be hard to put down when it came to good debate on virtually any subject. Similarly, members like P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, S. Jaipal Reddy, Mani Shankar Aiyer and Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi might have been entrusted with ministerial responsibilities but that was unlikely to deter them from giving it back to the Opposition.

Similarly, other members of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were not exactly lacking in firepower. The irrepressible RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav, who has moved from the Rajya Sabha to the Lower House, was quite capable of taking on the entire might of the opposition on his own.

The 60-member contingent of the Left parties would be no Pushover either given the presence of fiery speakers like Gurudas Dasgupta, Basudev Acharia and Mohammad Salim on its benches. Mr Somanth Chhatterjee’s oratorical skills would be sorely missed by his party as the veteran parliamentarian was all set to take on his new task as Lok Sabha Speaker.

However, there would be respite on one front. With the AIADMK failing to win even a single seat, the 14th Lok Sabha had at least been spared the perennial clashes between the two Dravidian parties which have, in the past, threatened to degenerate into a street brawl.