BJP BLAMES IT ON PRIME MINSTER

1 Sept 2010

BJP, GOVT ENGAGE IN BLAME GAME

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: Parliament's monsoon session over, the blame game began between the government and the main Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party on Wednesday, faulting each other while claiming satisfaction for own performance.

At a joint Press conference, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, accused the government of poor floor management and said it cut a sorry figure many a time, antagonising various sections leading to a strong polarisation against its several measures.

At a separate Press conference, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, blanked by his deputies V Narayanasamy and Prithviraj Chavan, blamed the BJP for a double-speak, taking one stand in morning meetings and reversing it in the House and then taking sadistic pleasure of blaming the government of floor management. 

Bansal said he has a reason to be satisfied about the government's performance in the over a month-long session that ended on Tuesday as 21 official bills could be passed despite eight of the 26 working days disrupted by the Opposition while the Lok Sabha also held six debates and entertained seven call-attention motions.

Jaitley and Sushma said the session brought out a drift in functioning of the government, with the Prime Minister's ability to contain several crisis taking a beating. They also cited the government's dithering and severe embarrassment in its four Bills stalled in Parliament, the last being the Education Tribunal Bill opposed by not only the opposition parties but also from within the Congress by K Keshava Rao, MP from Andhra Pradesh and incharge of party affairs in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

Bansal, however, disputed their claims, pointing out that there is nothing wrong in the government putting on hold some legislations because of overwhelming sentiments expressed in Parliament. He also asserted that individuals in the Congress are always free to criticise and pinpoint lacuna in any Bill, but that does not amount to opposing it, more so when at the end Keshava Rao went on record that he supports the Bill.

Jaitley and Sushma also expressed the BJP's satisfaction that it forced the government to accept substantial changes in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill that would have been a "suppliers' immunity law" but for its pressure. They said the BJP sidestepped its differences with the government by supporting the Bill, though only after it was altered to its satisfaction.
The Government appeared to be waiting for the Parliament Session to be get over before the appeasement of hardliners in J&K. We understand that there is a proposal to dilute the provisions the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and announce certain other steps which would be detrimental to India’s national interests.

Criticising the government for not spelling out its stand on the current crisis in Kashmir by opting not to respond to a debate in the Lok Sabha, the BJP leaders said: "The Government appeared to be waiting for the Parliament Session to be get over before the appeasement of hardliners in J&K. We understand that there is a proposal to dilute the provisions the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and announce certain other steps which would be detrimental to India’s national interests."

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