Cong tries to wash away Jogi stain, BJP keeps rubbing it in

In a reversal of roles in Parliament today, the Opposition came under fire from the treasury benches: ruling party members demanded that Son...

In a reversal of roles in Parliament today, the Opposition came under fire from the treasury benches: ruling party members demanded that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, come up with statements to explain the controversy over the tapes involving Ajit Jogi. In Rajya Sabha, as tempers rose, members nearly came to blows.

Sonia was not present in the Lok Sabha when the issue came up during zero hour. Their spirits sagging after the Assembly election rout, Congress members could do little except brave the BJP attack.

Zero Hour was adjourned after 30 minutes amid demands that Sonia come to the House and make a statement whether Jogi had consulted her before promising support — as has been mentioned in the tapes — to a breakaway BJP group in Chhattisgarh.

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BJP MP V K Malhotra spearheaded the attack: ‘‘Such a thing has never happened in the country in the last 50 years. Even Sonia Gandhi has been named in the controversy. No Congress chief minister can promise support of 39 MLAs without consulting Sonia Gandhi. No CM can take this decision on his own. She must explain.’’

Jaipal Reddy put up the Congress counter: ‘‘The Congress has suspended Jogi, and the veracity of the tapes is still to be ascertained. As some BJP leaders have claimed that L K Advani was aware of the operation (to trap Jogi), he must explain in Parliament.’’ But BJP’s Madan Lal Khurana said the Congress stood exposed in Chhattisgarh: ‘‘Under Section 10 of the Evidence Act, if someone is named by one person, then even that person gets involved in the case. As Sonia Gandhi is named, she is as responsible as Jogi.’’ In Rajya Sabha, the BJP-Congress slanging match took an ugly turn with members nearly coming to blows. Congress chief whip Pranab Mukherjee apologised to BJP member S S Ahluwalia on behalf of his party members.

It all began when Ahluwalia rose to rake up the Jogi tape issue after question hour. Congress members were on their feet, accusing Advani and Law Minister Arun Jaitley of being part of a sting operation to ‘‘frame’’ Jogi. ‘‘How can the country’s Law Minister be part of a sting operation?’’ Congress members shouted. With angry members paying no heed, Najma Heptulla ajourned the House until lunch. But the exchanges didn’t stop even after the adjournment: Ahluwalia and Hansraj Bhardwaj, a former Union Minister, nearly came to blows. Later, Pranab Mukherjee apologised for the incident: ‘‘It was for the first time that such a sad incident happened. We have always been fighting in the House but never after the House is adjourned.’’ He regretted that senior leaders, he included, ‘‘failed to discharge our responsibilies in preventing such an ugly incident.’’ Ahluwalia, who had calmed down by then, said: ‘‘I am happy that with this (apology), we can create a new atmosphere in the House.’’ Speaking to reporters later, Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy described as ‘‘ridiculous and malicious’’ the bid by the BJP to drag Sonia Gandhi’s name.

‘‘Even according to the alleged transcript of the audio tapes, Jogi did not mention Gandhi’s name. It was the other person on the phone line who referred to Gandhi. This kind of a bogus attempt to implicate the Congress president is highly condemnable,’’ he said.