Demand for Sonia resignation sparks war of words in House

Referring to Advani’s speech mocking Natwar Singh for giving him ‘‘credit’’ for his resignation, an irrepressible Dasmunshi said, ‘‘Advaniji is very happy today. I know after being served a lot of discredits from his visit to Pakistan, from the Sudarshan camp and lastly due to Uma, he has got one credit. He gave credit to Soniaji. By not becoming Prime Minister of the country, she at least protected a lady from shaving her head.’’

That last bit was the last straw. Protesting against the ‘‘unsatisfactory reply’’ and the ‘‘double standards’’ of the government vis-a-vis Natwar Singh and Sonia Gandhi, Advani led his troops out of the House. Although Parliament resumed ‘‘normal functioning’’ today, the Opposition’s demand for Sonia Gandhi’s resignation led to noisy scenes, bitter exchanges, sarcastic swipes and several minutes of bedlam — and, predictably, an angry Somnath Chatterjee who went to the extent of saying that he was ‘‘ashamed to be the Speaker of this House.’’

The perfect peace and order that lasted through Question Hour ended soon after Advani rose to speak on Natwar Singh’s resignation. He said he was ‘‘amazed’’ that instead of attributing his decision to his ‘‘conscience’’ or to the advice of his leaders, Singh had said he had resigned because the Opposition was stalling Parliament.

‘‘He gives credit to me—this is amazing,’’ Advani said. But when he called for Sonia Gandhi’s resignation, the ruling benches broke out in uproar. Dasmunshi was heard shouting, ‘‘On what grounds? It is a most irresponsible statement. The remark must be expunged…’’

The noise only got louder when Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) echoed Advani’s demand that Sonia Gandhi also resign. Claiming that ‘‘Congress is Sonia Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi is Congress’’, Singh said the fact that the Congress had been named as a non-contractual beneficiary was enough grounds for the Congress chief’s resignation.

Amid all the shouting, Somnath Chatterjee kept reprimanding members and at one point said, ‘‘If you don’t like me, you can get rid of me. But I will not allow this tamasha.’’ He also complained that leaders promised something ‘‘inside’’ but betrayed those promises on the floor of the House. With the exit of Natwar Singh, the ruling coalition was clearly on the offensive. Besides Congress members, other UPA constituents were equally scathing in their attack on Opposition’s ‘‘double standards’’.

Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M) pointed out that George Fernandes had been re-inducted into the Vajpayee cabinet even when the Tehelka enquiry was on; D.P. Yadav (RJD) said the BJP did not have faith in ‘‘ swadeshi’’ anymore but depended on a ‘‘videshi’’ report for ammunition; and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said he was ‘‘outrageously shocked’’ that Advani was taking credit for stalling Parliament for 72 hours. If the Opposition believed Sonia Gandhi was involved, they should bring a no-confidence motion instead of repeatedly disrupting Parliament, he said.

The only person who took a neutral position was Mohan Singh (Samajwadi Party) who welcomed Natwar Singh’s resignation and demanded that the Justice Pathak enquiry report be ready by the next session of Parliament so that the truth behind the whole oil-for-food deal comes out.

Advani stepping down not on agenda, says Mahajan

New Delhi: THE resignation of L K Advani as BJP President is not on the agenda of the three-day national convention of the party later this month, party general secretary Pramod Mahajan said here today.

‘‘This convention is a celebration of 25 years of BJP. There will not be anybody’s resignation or coronation (taken up) at the convention,’’ he told reporters responding to questions on Advani’s statement that he would resign after December 28-30 convention here. —PTI