BJP insists on order in House to back Bill

Cong accuses it of playing double-game

New Delhi: The UPA government has placed the Telangana Bill on its high priority list, next to the six anti-corruption Bills to be passed in the upcoming Parliament Session, the last one of the 15th Lok Sabha. The session, convened to get the vote-on-Account passed, ahead of General Elections, will be the last opportunity for the Congress to create new State. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "It is perfectly constitutional to bring T Bill in Parliament."

He rejected the claim of the Chief Minister that it could not go to the Parliament since it was rejected by the Assembly.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath was unsure whether the BJP will assist the UPA government in passing the Bill. He accused the BJP, saying that there were some parties, which were playing “double-game” on the issue of Telangana. While they openly supported the creation of a new State of Telangana, they, at the same time, did not prefer any member to be suspended from the House for disrupting the passage of the Bill, insisting that the Bill should not be passed in the din.

At the all-party Meeting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had heated arguments on the Telangana Bill. Kamal Nath, who sought cooperation from the Opposition for passing crucial legislations, including the six anti-graft Bills, got agitated when Sushma Swaraj persisted that the Bills could only be passed when the House was in order. She put the onus on the shoulders of the government for restoring order in the House and also insisted that no MP was suspended for raising slogans and disrupting the proceedings of the House. “How can some parties play double-game?” he asked. Kamal Nath, addressing the media persons, suspected the intention of the BJP, saying that while they openly supported the anti-graft and the Telangana Bills, they also came up with their own conditions of “ifs and buts.”

Quoting Sushma Swaraj, he mocked at the stand taken by her that their party will support the Telangana Bill only if the House functions normally, which was also the responsibility of the government and not that of the Opposition. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that it was for the Speaker to take action if the House was disrupted by the members. He said that when a separate State of Telangana was being demanded, it was the Telangana MPs, who did not let the House function and finally when their demand was being met, it was the Seemandhra MPs, who were disrupting the House.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram supported Kamal Nath, saying that the political parties had to take a stand on the Bills. The issue of Telangana, he said, would be spilled over to the 16th Lok Sabha, if the parties did not take a stand on it. He said that the Telangana MPs are 17, while Seemandhra are 25. The situation will be the same even in the next Lok Sabha and the issue will come up again.

Kamal Nath was of the view that time has come to expose the parties, which are playing double-game. “Either they should vote for the Bill or vote against it,” he remarked, wondering that there was no scope for them to run away. Even on the 6 anti-graft Bills, which are now termed as the Rahul Bills, the BJP is not willing to give the UPA government a cake-walk, as it will only help the Congress to blow its own trumpet ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The six anti-corruption Bills are – The Whistle-Blowers Protection Bill, 2011 (passed in the Lok Sabha); The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 (passed in the Lok Sabha); The Rights of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011); The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Official and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill, 2011; The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013; and The Public Procurement Bill, 2012. Chidambaram refuted the contention of the Opposition that these Bills were being brought by Rahul Gandhi in a hurry to boost his image, saying that all these Bills were brought to Parliament much earlier and were not in any way related to poll preparations.