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The Vote of Confidence

Rediff on the Net (Thu Apr 10 1997 22:27)

Good morning, all, going live now to the Central Hall of Parliament for the proceedings that will determine, within the next few hours, whether Deve Gowda's tenure as Prime Minister will last beyond this evening.

Though the ultimate interest - and the reason we are all here - is the motion of confidence in the UF government, the rules of procedure will not, apparently, be denied. So the proceedings kick off with the regular business of the house, as the Speaker calls on various members who have given notice of their desire to lay various papers before the House, for consideration.

And here we go, Mr Deve Gowda, Prime Minister of India, rising to move the vote of confidence. He starts off by reminding the viewers that on the 12th of June 1996, a similar motion had been moved, and carried, on the floor of the house. Today, he is back again, seeking another vote. "I am forced to do this because of certain new developments. On 12thJune 1996, the motion of confidence was carried, 13 parties including national and regional ones had supported it. At the same time, the UF has got only about 182 members. The supporting party the Congress, under the leadership of P V Narasimha Rao, took a decision that if the Third Front forms the government, we will express support. All regional and naitonal constituting the UF combined, and they elected the leader of the coalition. Thus, on 15th May, I was elected to lead the UF...

Gowda continues, to point out how he was then asked by the President to form the government, how he subsequently sought the vote of confidence on the Floor of Parliament, and obtained it...

At this point, Gowda points out, the then Congress president had indicated that he was prepared to unconditionally support the UF government, in the interest of providing a stable government to the nation.

From this point on, Mr Gowda is systematically quoting from the speeches made in June last year, when the first vote of confidence was sought. Speeches made by Congress leaders ranging from Narasimha Rao through Sharad Pawar to A R Antulay, all quotations aimed at proving the point that the Congress support, promised then and on the basis of which the UF formed the government, was unconditional and aimed at providing stability to the nation.

He says that the UF government was a crucial experiment, aimed at finding out whether, or no, a combination of national and regional parties could come together to forget their own narrow interests and work together in the larger, national interest. AS such, Gowda argues, his coalition government had a larger role to play than merely performing the day to day functions of government - it was, he argues, a crucial experiment in polity that could well have changed the face of INdian democracy.

From this point in his peroration, Gowda is now moving on to detail what precisely has been achieved by his government in the less than one year of its tenure - "with, let me emphasise, the support and full cooperation of all the parties forming part of the United Front coalition".

As per his reading, the first, and most important, act of the UF government was to revive the Centre-State interaction, by getting the various Chief Ministers together for meetings under the Centre's aegis - something, he says, that was crucial in order that the nation move forward in harmony and on one unified path.

Gowda argues that this is also the rationale behind the common minimum programme - a bid, he says, to usher in for the first time in India the concept of government by consensus. In a situation where political parties are proliferating, and there are around 33 different parties represented in Parliament alone, he says that such a common minimum programme was of utmost importance. And he says that to implement such a programme, the conference of chief ministers was absolutely essential, as it was only the CMs who could decide how the programmes could be implemented. Gowda points out that at the end of the two-day meet, "almost all the chief ministers" had unanimously agreed to give the CMP their backing and support, and to do everything they could to implement the measures spelt out therein.

Another achievement Gowda is now turning his attention to is the Lok Pal Bill, the passing of which he says was part of the CMP from the outset.

Gowda's point, now, is that the programmes of the government have had the backing of all constitutents of the UNited Front. "It is true that we have had differences of opinion, and that is natural. After all, when 13 parties come together, each with their own manifestos and agendas, and come together to ensure national stability, then it is impossible for all to see eye to eye, and in that situation, differences of opinion will be expressed. However, I must add that despite these natual differences, every step this government has taken has been on the basis of consensus."

And now Gowda goes on to the biggest achievement of his government: the budget for the year 1997-1998.

He points out that the budget was popular throughout the nation, that even the Opposition parties had little by way of negatives to say about it, that it gave the stock market a much-needed boost, that it was well received across the world...

Right now, Gowda is spelling out each individual feature of the Budget - we won't burden you with the details, as they are pretty much common knowledge. In fact, as Gowda goes on from point to point, the camera pans across the Hall of Parliament, and the MPs present appear least interested. They, like you, have heard it all before, and the murmuring among themselves as Gowda drones on has now prompted the Speaker to ask for silence.

We are still on the details of the Budget folks, and P A Sangma or no P A Sangma, there seems no way this kind of thing can hold the attention of Parliament at this time, they are all busy talking among themselves while Gowda gradually raises his voice to drown out the background murmur. "I am detailing these things here,' says Gowda, "to point out what this government has done during its short tenure."

Increasing restlessness among the members of Parliament. Understandable, I suppose - they are here today for the fireworks, not for a reiteration of what is, after all, history. As the camera pans across the Hall, it is interesting to note the body language of the parliamentarians - most backbenchers are relaxed in their seats, at ease, while in the front benches, potential speakers on the upcoming debate are busily taking notes. Gowda appears to be nearing the end of his peroration. "There are other points I will raise after the other members have spoken their views. For now, I place before Parliament this notice of vote of confidence, and request this Honourable House to vote on it, keeping in mind their own assurances to the nation. And I take this opportunity to beg the nation's forgiveness for any acts of omission or commission on the part of this government." And with that, Gowda yields the floor, and Jaswant Singh of the BJP rises to speak against the motion.

Jaswant Singh starts with his usual sarcasm. He talks of how the UF was a house divided, how on the very eve of the vote of confidence the UF talks of new-found unity within the ranks. "The Honourable Prime Minister talks of new developments within the UF. We are not here because the BJP has moved a vote of no confidence, it is teh Prime Minister who has moved a vote of confidence and if he expects us to have confidence in him, it is up to him to take us into confidence about these new developments."

It is a good point Jaswant Singh is making - however, true to form, he belabours it almost beyond bearing, rather than moving on to the next point. So we are still stuck with Jaswant Singh wondering what the new developments.

Jaswant Singh now points out that this is the third time in nine months that a vote of confidence is being debated in the Hall of parliament - the first faced by the BJP, and now the second for the UF. "I submit that this reflects a thwarting of the people's mandate."

Jaswant Singh says that this brings disrepute on this "august assembly". His argument is that the UF is merely hankering after office - and includes the Congress in the charge. "I request the defender (meaning the UF) and the offender (meaning the Congress) to shed their pretense and to admit their power-hunger."

Singh, now, is busy waxing sarcastic about the number of steering committees, core groups, and so on that forms part of the UF machinery - terming it a charade. "What we are being subjected to today is a crisis born of treachery within a coalition, and treachery between parties. "

"Sir," he tells Gowda, "we are the Opposition, your enemies are sitting behind you on your own benches."

Jaswant Singh is now attacking Gowda's assertion that the UF government had support from outside - he says that what we are witnessing today is indication enough that the support, if there was any, is merely self-serving. "The 'supporters' did so because they wanted a puppet government, they wanted a PM who would stand when they said stand and sit when they said sit."

Jaswant Singh: "I must point out to the UF that you chose to work with the Congress, we warned you then and you are now reaping the reward for not listening to us then."

Jaswant Singh's sarcasm draws applause and laughter from the BJP benches. The Congress MPs, like Queen Victoria of old, look distinctly unamused.

Singh is now talking of Gowda's statement that the Congress withdrawal of support was a bolt from the blue. "I do wish you had gone on to explain what was so unexpected here."

Jaswant Singh names Mamta Banerjee, in course of his speech, wondering how come she too didn't see the inevitable. Mamta gets up, wanting to know what Jaswant Singh is saying to her. JS says, what I had to say, I have already said. Professor Kurien now gets up and reminds BJP that his party once supported V P Singh on similar grounds, and later withdrew support when it suited them. "WEren't you being opportunistic?" Kurien wants to know. Sangma wants order in the House.

In all that confusion, JS moves on, without replying to Kurien. For now, the BJP speaker is now referring to the developments in Uttar Pradesh.

Now we are on the question of rising prices - something the government had promised to check. JS now in his usual sarcastic vein refers to the timing of the Congress withdrawal of support. "It came when everyone had gone home for the Holi holidays. How, at this time, did the Congress suddenly wake up to the fact that the government was not functioning?" he demands.

And again, JS wants to know why, in its withdrawal of support, the Congress raised the question of India's security concerns. "Throughout the tenure of the government the Congress never once asked a question about national security, now suddenly it wakes up and begins to express concern on the subject. I charge the Congress with using even national security as a tradeable issue, something to blackmail the government with." Interestingly, after a rather lukewarm attack on the UF, Jaswant Singh has now come out with all guns blazing - against the Congress.

Now we are back to the UF. And JS says that the biggest failure of the UF government is repeated misuse of Article 356, despite the consensus of opinion expressed at the meeting of the CMs. He says this is evident in the happenings in UP and in other states, and that this is the prime failure of the government.

JS now expressing his reservations on defence. He says that a similar situation as prevailed before 1962 is now evident in the country. "For the 11th year in succession, the needs of defense are being neglected, in the Budget."

"I do not agree with the management of this government in the agriculture and energy sector, I charge this government with continually neglecting the petroleum sector and endangering the nation's energy requirements. This is not a diatribe based on personal prejudices. I am not impressed by the undignified scramble that we are witnessing here. It saddens me, and to my mind there is only one answer, both for the defender and the offender - go. Depart. Leave these chairs, to which you are clinging. I therefore oppose this motion of confidence" And that ends JS's speech.

Now speaking for the motion is Priya Ranjan Das Munshi. Who, besides, is president of the All India Football Federation. For trivia buffs, the seat next to him is occupied by T Subbarami Reddy, movie producer whose credits include the Sridevi-Anil Kapoor starrer Chandni.

Munshi now rebuts Jaswant Singh's charge that the Congress, for purely personal reasons, woke up on Holi day to determine that the government was malfunctioning. Munshi points out that even earlier, the Congress had intimated to the UF government its distress at the way the government was being run.

"The government headed by Deve Gowda is not a government for South Block alone. With all respect to Gowdaji, it was his duty to consolidate, to protect India from the dangers it is facing both within and without."

Munshi, for some reason, is now harping on the murder of Indira Gandhi and the death of a number of Sikhs as a result. Not quite sure where the relevance comes in. "Please try to understand the agony which we underwent," Munshi says, at the top of his voice.

Munshi now charges the UF government with not having convened even one meeting of the CMs on the question of Kashmir.

Munshi continues on his historical vein, referring to all the concerns the Congress has expressed on the security question in the past - distant past, is what is being referred to right now. And from there, he segues to the question of UP, and of how the Congress efforts to ensure that a government was formed in that state was thwarted by the UF, leading to a situation where Mayawati now heads the government there. He says this is because the UF government took it easy, and did not meet the Congress halfway.

Munshi says that the Congress is not happy that it has to withdraw support, argues that it is the UF government's own callous unconcern, its refusal to live up to the mandate, was what forced the hand of the Congress and made it withdraw support from the government.

Munshi now accuses the government of not having spared a thought for the anti-poverty programme, he says that this unconcern has made his party feel intense grief.

We are now seguing, from the vote of confidence, to Mahatma Gandhi's vision for the future. With all due respect, folks, this particular speech cannot be relayed word for word, simply because it doesn't seem, at this point in time, to address the question of whether or no confidence is to be reposed in this government. Narasimha Rao is in a gentle doze, Deve Gowda is busy scribbling away (on a lighter vein, is he penning his last political will and testament?) and the rest of the parliamentarians are otherwise occupied as Munshi keeps saying he is going to conclude, and then goes off on yet another tangent. Now it is morality that occupies his attention, he says that is the most important thing. The Speaker, meanwhile, says something about " No running commentary, please" - not addressing Rediff, presumably, but the MPs who have been keeping up a rapidfire critique of everything Munshi says.

Munshi now argues that the Congress, when withdrawing support, has done it purely on the basis of issues, and has not brought any individual issues into the equation, has not indulged in personality politics.

Ah, Munshi finally sits down, yielding the floor to...let's see... I K Gujral.

Gujral says that his speech is in favour of the motion, and his intention is to discuss the gains of the UF government. Lots of noise in the house, prompting Somnath Chatterjee, sitting next to him, to ask loud, "Kya ho raha hai?"

Gujral, speaking in his gentle, soft-spoken style, is totally inaudible. So he stops, waiting for the background noise to die down.

Gujral giving it up as a bad job, and droning on about India's foreign policy and the direction it has taken under the UF. No one appears to be listening, though... Gujral continues, talking apparently to himself.

Mr Gujral is not an impressive speaker, but there is sincerity in his tone. He is clearly one of the stars of this government and his work at the ministry has already been enshrined by even Congressman like Mani Shankar Aiyar as the Gujral doctrine.

Mr Gujral says he has kept the Congress in the loop on every foreign policy issue with all the relevant papers.

THE HOUSE HAS BEEN ADJOURNED FOR LUNCH. MR GUJRAL WILL CONTINUE HIS SPEECH AFTER LUNCH.

Gujral's point is that India's foreign policy, with non-alignment as the keystone, was laid down by Jawaharlal Nehru and all successor governments, including the UF government now battling for survival, has only followed it.

Here we go, folks, back live to Parliament, and it is I K Gujral resuming his speech, which was interrupted by the lunch bell.

Gujral points out that no party can afford to sit back and criticise another for the foreign policy - he argues that even A B Vajpayee, during the Rao regime, has played a direct role in foreign policy, heading the Indian delegation to Geneva. The Uf foreign minister's point, here, is that it is self-serving of both the BJP and the Congress to criticise the UF's foreign policy, given that it is merely a reflection of their own.