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Regular-article-logo Monday, 13 May 2024

OPPOSITION ONSLAUGHT FOR GURUSWAMY DEBATE 

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FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Published 10.03.99, 12:00 AM
New Delhi, March 10 :     The Opposition again piled pressure on the government today, demanding a threadbare discussion on Mohan Guruswamy?s allegations against the finance ministry. Faced with a full-fledged onslaught, Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi said the matter would be taken up at the all-party meeting of leaders in his chamber tomorrow. Earlier, opposition leaders went full blast, accusing the government of deliberately sidestepping a discussion. The issue was raised by the Congress. Senior leader P. Shiv Shanker said Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had commented on Guruswamy?s allegations outside Parliament and the matter should be thrashed out in the House. Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) and Left members also chipped in. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda insisted the matter must be discussed in this session of Parliament itself. ?If the House agrees we can sit after six in the evening and discuss the issue,? Gowda said. He added it was not merely a question of the Prime Minister speaking outside Parliament, but that the issue had already been raised in the House. Two days ago, the Opposition put the government in its direct line of fire, demanding immediate discussions on the sacking of navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat and Guruswamy?s allegation that the government had unduly favoured certain industrial houses. The Speaker had fixed an all-party meeting of senior leaders tomorrow to decide the Bhagwat issue. This could have prompted the Opposition to push the Guruswamy issue today. Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Ram Naik tried to avoid a commitment by shifting the onus of a decision to the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). ?The BAC can take it up,? he said. But leader of the Opposition Sharad Pawar interjected: ?Why should we wait for a BAC?? Not to be outdone, Naik quipped: ?I can understand the Opposition?s eagerness to discuss the matter but the entire House cannot be turned into a BAC.? Naik tried to blame the Opposition for not sticking to the agenda decided by the BAC. ?The BAC had decided the House should sit till late, but yesterday the leaders decided something else,? he said. The Congress, however, kept up its attack. Senior MP Rajesh Pilot directly accused the government of scuttling a discussion on Guruswamy.    
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