Govt gets harmless slap on the wrist

In fact, earlier in the day, upset at the strong criticism of his Ayodhya statement by the allies, especially the Telugu Desam Party, Vajpayee said at the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting that allies should exercise restraint while airing their views.

He said the government was alive to the problems of their respective states but they should keep the national interest above regional interests.

Today’s defeat in Rajya Sabha, however, has no impact on theGovernment’s stability. It only amounts to a moral defeat of the Government since a major portion of the Rajya Sabha consists of members elected by state Assemblies.

Still, this was only the second time in history that the Government had to face the ignominy of defeat in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier in August 1978, the Morarji Desai Government lost a motion moved by Congress leader N K P Salve demanding constitution of inquiry committees on allegations of corruption against the families of Desai and former Home minister Charan Singh.

Vajpayee, then External Affairs Minister, was the main speaker of the Janata Party though the Government refused to comply with the directives of the House.

Today, replying to the debate, Vajpayee denied having given a clean chit to his Ministers adding he never spoke on the Ayodhya issue after 1992. He also denied having said that the temple should be built at the site of the demolished mosque or ever supporting the demolition.

He promised to honour the court verdict while accusing the Opposition of pre-judging the case against his three colleagues, Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharati, by holding them guilty even before court pronounced its judgement on them.

He also claimed that the Congress’s efforts to draw a wedge within the NDA had not yielded results. “We may be having differences on some other issues but we all are committed to the National Agenda of Governance and the principles of democracy, secularism and justice”, said the Prime Minister.

During his 45-minute speech, Vajpayee took a dig at the Opposition by referring to corruption charges against Laloo Yadav and Rabri. There could be no two yardsticks for Delhi and Bihar. “I would request you to formulate a code of conduct for Ministers and decide the issues on which Ministers would resign,” the Prime minister said.

He also referred to Rajiv Gandhi’s decision to launch his 1989 election campaign from Ayodhya saying, “this shows that Rajiv too had a place for Ram and his Temple in his heart”.

However, Vajpayee did not back out from his earlier stated position. “People may differ but for me, Ayodhya issue was a movement which shrunk after the demolition of the disputed structure. People who participated in it can’t be equated with those facing corruption or criminal charges”, he said adding he had not put on a new mask.

Replying to the discussion, Pranab Mukherjee who moved the motion, termed the Prime Minister’s statement ambiguous which was creating confusion in the country.

The Congress had no objection on the choice of the Ministers because it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister had dropped two Ministers because they were chargesheeted in corruption cases but allowed continuance of three Ministers chargesheeted in Ayodhya case. “We are only opposed to such selective punishments,” he said.

Justifying the raising of the ayodhya issue, Mukherjee said the motive was not to divide the nation but to arrive at clarity on an issue confronting the nation.

The Prime minister earlier turned emotional regretting aspersions cast by the Opposition on his four-decade political life. Vajpayee said that his entire career was an open book and Parliament and the entire nation was a witness to it. He said he had never supported the Ayodhya demolition and there was no contradiction in his speech today and the one made in Parliament after the demolition.