Maya’s vote rocks House

There was high drama in the Lok Sabha too where Samajwadi Party member Akhilesh Singh tried to pen his resignation and threw his coat on the reporters’ table, saying he had lost confidence in Parliament.

He later tendered an unqualified apology to Speaker Manohar Joshi for his behaviour: ‘‘I was provoked and agitated. I am sorry if my behaviour has hurt anyone or caused any bitterness.’’ Joshi accepted the apology but told him never to repeat what he had done.The Speaker rejected the Opposition demand for tabling Mayawati’s letter to the Centre. The Government, he ruled, was not bound to lay any document on the table if it considered it to be confidential.

Outside the House, the Opposition promised to give notice for a privilege motion against Mayawati for ‘‘denigrating’’ all MPs. It also decided to raise the issue of ‘‘a breakdown of constitutional machinery in UP’’ under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha. An announcement to this effect was made by CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee after a meeting of Opposition leaders, including former P M H D Deve Gowda, Shivraj Patil (Cong), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD). The Opposition forced adjournment of both Houses. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was present in the Upper House when trouble began. The L S was adjourned for 15 minutes shortly after the lunch recess. Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha first demanded suspension of question hour to discuss the UP developments. As they disrupted proceedings by shouting slogans, Shekhawat said: ‘‘If you say that the subject is open and whoever wants to discuss it can debate on it, let me tell you I will never agree to it even if I have to leave my post. I am not worried.’’ ‘‘We must draw a line on how far Parliament can discuss an issue pertaining to state legislatures.’’ Shekhawat said he wished to settle the issue once and for all by arriving at a consensus among political parties. ‘‘I can go to any extent to protect the rights of states.’’ He said if a precedent was set today by allowing a discussion on UP, some other member would demand a discussion on Maharashtra or Bihar or Karnataka tomorrow.

Shekhawat refused to suspend question hour and suggested that the issue be taken up at the business advisory committee meeting. As the din continued, deputy chairperson Najma Heptulla adjourned the House for lunch. The House re-assembled only to be adjourned for 30 minutes and then again for an hour as Oppn members persisted with the issue. In the LS, the Speaker rejected notices of adjournment motion given by Akhilesh Singh, his SP colleague Ramjilal Suman and Shriprakash Jaiswal of the Congress, but allowed their party leaders to speak.

Mulayam Singh demanded Mayawati’s resignation, saying the UP House had been adjourned in a hurry and business transacted without a proper debate. He demanded imposition of Central rule in the state. Congress chief whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi demanded a CBI probe into the charges of ‘‘brazen corruption’’ against Mayawati. He was supported by Somnath Chatterjee, CPI(M).

They were countered by BJP chief whip V K Malhotra who argued that a proper procedure should be followed by the House in discussing issues concerning state governments. He said there were instances in West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh where the state machinery had ‘‘violated’’ the Constitution.