Now NDA, UPA lock horns over column on Speaker

The BJP, which has made no secret of its antipathy towards the Speaker from the start of the 14th Lok Sabha, was alone in taking an opposite view. BJP leader V.K. Malhotra spoke in favour of ‘‘freedom of the press’’ and said the Speaker was not above criticism.

The House was adjourned for 20 minutes over the issue but even a closed-door meeting at the Speaker’s chamber with leaders of various parties failed to resolve the bitter deadlock. A final decision on the matter will be taken when the House meets on Tuesday.

The issue was first raised during Zero Hour by Samajwadi Party MP Ramjilal Suman who said the column—which appeared in The Pioneer, edited by Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra—had levelled very serious charges against the Speaker and was not just an attack on him personally but an ‘‘insult’’ to the House.

He was joined by several MPs belonging to the Left, RJD, BSP, and others, all of whom expressed outrage at the contents of the newspaper column and felt it was a fit case for breach of privilege.

The Speaker then intervened, and reading from a prepared text, said he did not want to let the matter ‘‘linger.’’ Referring to the column, he said,‘‘I feel that there are some people who play lip service to Parliamentary democracy but try their best to denigrate this great institution. We need not take notice of all irresponsible and immature insinuations made out of frustration and desperation. I treat all the motivated insinuations with the contempt they deserve and I close the matter.’’

But that had little impact and several MPs pointed out that it was not about the Speaker alone. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said,

‘‘Nowhere in the world can the Speaker be attacked in such a matter in the press.’’

Significantly, even Prabhunath Singh said, ‘‘No newspaper has the right to denigrate the Speaker—it is an insult to every member, to the whole House,’’ he said. It was an issue that transcended party and coalition lines, he added.

Malhotra did not agree. He said while his party did not want the Speaker to be insulted, it also did not want the press to be gagged. Malhotra added there was no law barring criticism of the Speaker—‘‘even a no-confidence motion can be brought against him.’’

And when Ram Gopal Yadav, decrying the insinuations in the column, said Somnath Chatterjee was not a member of the CPI(M) central committee or politburo, Malhotra snapped: ‘‘But he is a member of the CPI(M).’’

Since all previous Speakers have been members of one or other political party, Malhotra’s remark led to an uproar leading to the adjournment of the House for 20 minutes.

Sources said when leaders met in the Speaker’s chamber, Malhotra refused a suggestion from Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee that the House adopt a unanimous resolution condemning the newspaper attack. There was a heated exchange when Malhotra invoked the freedom of the press and some MPs felt that it was an excuse to shield the columnist and editor of the paper, both of whom are known to be close to the BJP.

Malhotra then sought time to discuss the matter at the NDA meeting on Tuesday morning. When the House reassembled, the Speaker refused to let the matter be raised and said he would give a ruling on Tuesday.

The issue, however, is unlikely to die down given the acrimony on both sides. While UPA members feel that the column was part of a larger BJP strategy to discredit the Speaker, BJP sources said any efforts to push a privilege motion would only isolate the Speaker further. It would give the BJP an opportunity to detail their accumulating grievances against Chatterjee over the last year.

BJP sources also maintained that Prabhunath Singh was an ‘‘isolated voice’’ and the NDA was solidly united on the issue. In fact, thrice in the past the NDA had collectively considered bringing a no-confidence motion against the Speaker because of their lack of faith in him, they said.