Centre’s ‘impropriety’ has Opp on the edge

Opposition MPs from CPI(M), Congress, Samajwadi Party and RJD took the government to task for ‘‘denigrating’’ Parliament and violating long-standing norms. They pointed out that if the House was prorogued after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on December 23, then the current session would be a fresh one — thus necessitating the President’s address.

The President’s address, they said, gave an account of the government’s performance and provided Opposition members the opportunity to discuss and criticise the government. ‘‘Heavens wouldn’t have fallen if the President had made his address. What are you afraid of? Why don’t you want us to criticise your performance,’’ asked Shivraj Patil.

Opposition members also expressed surprise that PM Vajpayee had acquiesced to this ‘‘impropriety’’. The PM, who listened to the discussion, did not react. Swaraj said no impropriety was committed and gave two reasons for the decision. First, the government did not prorogue the House as it had made up its mind to go in for early polls. But since the new Lok Sabha could not be constituted before March 31, the government knew that it would have to convene a short session to pass vote-on-account.

The government, she said, had two options — prorogue the House and convene a fresh session or let the Winter Session continue. It opted for the latter as it did not want the President to be dragged into poll politics. Explaining this argument, Swaraj said: ‘‘The Opposition would then have accused us of denigrating the President’s office, of using him to announce polls.’’ But the argument didn’t impress Opposition MPs.