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Fernandes’ re-entry : Vajpayee under attack |
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The return of George Fernandes as Defence Minister is turning out to be a big embarrassment for the Government with the Opposition once again attacking the Samata Party leader in Parliament.
The Prime Minister, however, defended his decision of reinducting Fernandes as Defence Minister even before the completion of the Tehelka.commission ‘s inquiry into the exposure by the dotcom. The opposition knows fully there is no point in questioning the Prime Minister’s prerogative to appoint a Cabinet of his choosing. But the aim is to show the PM and the BJP as not sticking to their often stated high principles and political morality. Clearly, the Congress, even if the entire Opposition joins forces, cannot hope to push a censure motion through in the Lok Sabha.
The ruling coalition has not only rallied around Fernandes but also expressed its displeasure with the Venkataswami Commission probing the Tehelka revelations. Vajpayee while addressing the BJP Parliamentary party said he had reinducted Fernandes after lot of thought and was sure that he was not guilty of any wrong doing and no specific allegation had been brought against him before the Commission.
A combined Opposition in both Houses of Parliament mounted an attack on Vajpayee, demanding an explanation how he had reinducted George Fernandes into the Cabinet even while the Venkataswami Commission’s inquiry was pending. While the Opposition attack in the Lok Sabha was expected, the Government was not prepared for embarrassment from one of its allies, the Samata Party. The Samata’s Prabhunath Singh said his party had always held that the Tehelka affair was a conspiracy against Fernandes. “While the Congress was part of this conspiracy, so were some in the BJP,” he said. Singh’s remarks came after members of the Congress, the Left parties and the Rashtriya Janata Dal staged a walkout protesting against a lack of response from the Government to their demand that Vajpayee come to the House to “explain his conduct”.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said there were no charges against Fernandes nor did the commission make any accusation against him, direct or otherwise. Even in the notice served on him by the commission, he was not asked to explain anything, he said. “It is the Prime Minister’s prerogative (to induct anybody into his Cabinet). If the Opposition wants that he be dropped I can’t help them,” Mahajan remarked. BJP’s parliamentary party secretary Vijay Kumar Malhotra said there could be no discussion in Parliament on the prerogative of the Prime Minister to induct ministers into his cabinet. He said that to expect the Prime Minister to explain the inclusion of a minister in his team was against parliamentary rules and democratic conventions. When pointed out that Fernandes’s case had attracted flak because he had been made a Minister without waiting for the report of the Venkataswami Commission, Malhotra said the commission was taking too long. “We are not happy with the Venkataswami Commission,” he said. It was supposed to finish the inquiry within four months, he said, but the commission was dragging its feet. “One cannot play around with the career of a good leader like Fernandes,” he remarked.
While raising the issue, P.R. Dasmunshi of the Congress recalled that everybody, including Fernandes, had felt he should not return to the Cabinet till the Venkataswami Commission cleared him. “It is amazing how the Prime Minister comes out with a verdict that he is innocent. How can he impose his will on the commission,” he asked. He reminded that the commission had said the Tehelka tapes weren’t doctored.
Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar said Vajpayee’s declaration that Fernandes was not at fault had serious implications. “It doesn’t add to the dignity of Parliament and the Prime Minister,” he said. The Samajwadi Party which had appeared not too keen on making Fernandes’ reinduction an issue too chipped in. Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said Fernandes had resigned on moral grounds but returned to the Cabinet despite the inquiry pending.
In the Rajya Sabha, the matter was raised by Suresh Pachouri (Congress) when External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was formally introducing Fernandes as re-inducted Defence Minister. Seeking a ruling on the “credibility” of a minister from Chairman Krishan Kant, Pachouri said Fernandes had gone back on his assurance that he won’t assume ministership till his name was cleared. This was followed by Opposition MPs shouting “shame, shame”.
This was the fourth time this session that Fernandes has come under attack in both Houses of Parliament. In an unprecedented move, Opposition members refused to put questions to him when their names were called out during question hour.”We are not going to put questions to Fernandes because he is illegally occupying the post,” said Prabodh Panda (CPI) and G Puttaswamy Gowda (Cong) when their names were called out by Speaker G M C Balayogi. The question related to the lifting of the ban on agents in defence deals.
This unprecedented stand of the Opposition members sparked off a furore when they continued to disrupt Prahlad Patel (BJP) from posing supplementaries. “You are setting a new precedent,” Balayogi said, when Panda refused to put his question but the sloganeering against Fernandes did not stop. As his pleas to restore order, did not work, he had to adjourn the House.
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