New Delhi, August 11
An uneasy quietus prevails over the letter written by former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee although the presiding officer asked both the ruling and Opposition not to prolong the "painful chapter".
Mr Chatterjee was visibly uncomfortable when the issue of Vajpayee's letter questioning his fairness and objectivity was brought up in the House with the ruling side sharply critical of the letter and BJP stoutly defending it. The letter was not taken on record.
The controversy over the letter, which rocked House proceedings yesterday, may have ended but not the bitterness created by it. A meeting between Leader of the House and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani earlier in the day also did not appear to have helped bring about a truce on the issue.
Both the sides continued to maintain the position even after they made their point in the Lok Sabha with NDA and the UPA allies passing resolutions sticking to their stands.
Sources said both sides agreed for a ceasefire during the adjournment of the House in the morning by deciding to allow their leaders to make statements on Vajpayee's letter without disruptions.
The NDA maintained it would neither offer an apology nor withdraw the letter in which the former Prime Minister had remarked that the Speaker does not inspire as much confidence in the Opposition as he does in the ruling parties.
"We stand by every word in the letter that A.B. Vajpayee, leader of the NDA and the senior-most member of the House, has stated to the Speaker," the NDA resolution read.
Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who raised the issue of the letter, said it casts "aspersions on the impartiality in the official conduct" of the Speaker and that several parties had expressed "deep anguish" over its "tone and contents."
Mr Mukherjee said the letter was "more painful because it emanates from the pen of a person who himself struggled to uphold dignity of the House over decades and is known for his commitment to Parliamentary values."
He said the Speaker is "more of an institution than a person and any aspersions on the key stone of Parliamentary democracy is an indictment upon all its constituents."
A number of leaders including those of UPA and outside "feel strongly that under no circumstances and provocation should there be any reflection on the conduct of Chair in any form or manner."
"No aspersions" are cast and there are "no reflections" in the letter, the BJP leader insisted. It was a "sage advice by a senior statesman to the Chair of the House... It is guidance for all of us," he said.
He wondered "how anyone could construe it as disrespect" to the Chair, prompting noisy protests from Opposition members.
Mr Advani said it would have been appropriate if the letter was placed on record in Parliament.
Amid noisy exchanges between the Left and NDA members, the Speaker said the "slanging match will not help" and the issue should be ended.
