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PM meets LS Speaker New Delhi, March 16 After the meeting, Mr Chatterjee stressed there were no differences between the highest legislative body in the country and the Union Government. This observation had its echo when Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad concurred with the Speaker’s observations though he blamed the media for creating a misunderstanding where none existed. Mr Azad and UPA leader in the Rajya Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, who is also Defence Minister, accompanied the Prime Minister at the breakfast meeting. The Manmohan Singh government emphasised there was never any confrontation between the executive and the legislature. Further, Mr Azad said the “UPA government is in total support of the Speaker.”Mr Chatterjee acknowledged that Dr Singh had wanted to dispel any impression that a controversy had arisen between the two important limbs of the State following the Supreme Court’s order advancing the vote of confidence in the Jharkhand Assembly and advising that this process on the floor of the House be videographed. The Prime Minister made it clear that the government appreciated the Speaker’s concerns and it had nothing against him. “It is entirely the prerogative of the Speaker to conduct the business and proceedings of the Lok Sabha.” On his part, Mr Chatterjee expressed happiness that the Centre had intervened in the Jharkhand imbroglio and resolved it. He did not hedge in making it clear that it was wrong for Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi to have invited JMM leader Shibhu Soren to head a minority government in the first instance. The Speaker, however, continues to feel strongly about the judiciary trying to encroach on the powers of the legislature as enshrined in Article 112 of the Constitution. It is in this context that the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker assumes significance. Mr Azad reiterated that the Speaker was well within his rights to convene a meeting of Presiding Officers of legislatures. He said if the Speakers of the Legislative Assemblies of NDA-ruled states boycotted the meeting, “it will inevitably amount to toeing a “partisan line.” Mr Chatterjee reaffirmed that there was no going back on the conclave of Presiding Officers of state legislatures to be held as scheduled on March 20 to discuss relations among the three organs of the State — the executive, legislature and judiciary. The Opposition NDA at its meeting on Monday advised the Presiding Officers of legislatures in the states ruled by it to abstain from the meeting, accusing the Lok Sabha Speaker of pursuing an agenda which could be harmful to Indian democracy.  |
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