To force allies to rally around, PM tells Opp: seek confidence vote

While the Opposition insisted on a censure motion under Rule 184, the government was unrelenting saying a debate could only be held under Rule 193 which does not entail voting.

By dangling the bait of a no-trust move, Vajpayee was clearly aiming at enlarging the issue to include the overall performance of his government and deflect the debate away from Gujarat. And to force his frayed coalition to patch up under pressure.

While some of the BJP’s allies, specifically the TDP, demand the ouster of Gujarat chief Narendra Modi none of them is really interested in pulling down the Vajpayee government. If a no-trust were to be moved, it would force the allies to vote in the government’s favour thus giving it a chance to assert its legitimacy. If such a motion were to be defeated, the rules do not permit a repeat until the expiry of six months.

Responding to the demand of the Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi and other Opposition leaders that the debate should be held only under Rule 193, Vajpayee said that if they could insist on a motion which entailed voting they could exercise other options like moving cut motions as well.

As if on cue, BJP representative V K Malhotra bluntly told them to employ the no-trust mechanism.

Concerned over the long disruption of work, Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed did some plainspeaking making it clear the Chair could take a decision on its own to end the stalemate.

Hinting that he was not happy with the government not taking the initiative while putting the onus on him, he pointed out that the tradition of parliamentary democracy called for all the sides in the House to work out a compromise.

Sayeed is likely to convene another meeting on Monday and if that also fails he may decide the matter himself.

As soon as the meeting began, Somnath Chatterjee took a dig at the Prime Minister for having ‘‘gone missing’’ from Parliament all these days. Sonia also thanked Vajpayee for having attended the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan argued that a censure motion was not possible under the rules of business since Gujarat had already been discussed in the House twice. He also said that the Centre had nothing to do with the Gujarat issue. Mahajan was taking refuge under the conditions laid down for the admissibility of a motion under Rule 184. According to one of them, a motion under the rule could not be permitted if it sought to ‘‘revive discussion of a matter which has been discussed in the same session.’’

Another disabling proviso is that the subject ‘‘shall not relate to a matter which is primarily not the concern of the Government of India.’’

Sources said Sayeed is aware of a precedent set by late Speaker G M C Balayogi who had overturned his own ruling saying that the will of the House is supreme and rules can be waived if it wants it.

The TDP and other allies did not insist on a motion under any particular rule but said that they wanted a discussion. Interestingly, the AIADMK representative K Malaisamy also demanded a debate under Rule 184.