12-08-2005, 02:16 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>NDA: No double standards, Sonia should resign too </b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
After forcing Union Minister Natwar Singh's resignation on the Volcker issue, the <b>Opposition on Wednesday trained its gun on Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.</b>
Demanding Ms Gandhi's resignation as chairperson of the UPA Government's National Advisory Council, the BJP-led Opposition disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, saying <b>"double standards" would not be accepted</b>.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition LK Advani led the walkout, contending that the yardstick applied to Mr Natwar Singh should equally be applied to Ms Gandhi as the Volcker Report also listed the Congress a non-contractual beneficiary along with Mr Singh.
This brought the members from the treasury benches to their feet.<b> "Our leader is not on a transfer order from outside,"</b> Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said, flatly rejecting the Opposition's demand.
<b>Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh took up the cudgels against the Government in the Upper House, criticising the "collective hysteria" of the ruling Congress for repeatedly protesting in the House whenever Ms Gandhi's name cropped up.</b>
Mr Singh said despite Mr Natwar Singh's resignation, the Government's response was incomplete as action was yet to be taken against the other entity mentioned in the report.
This sparked uproarious scenes as Congress members protested the attack on their leader.Responding for the Government, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee charged the Opposition with making an "illogical and irrational" demand as the Volcker Committee had not named Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
According to him, the report had named only Mr Natwar Singh and the Congress Party and the Congress was a corporate body, which could not be personified by anyone individual.
Attacking the BJP for pointing an accusing finger at the Congress, he asked when a president of the BJP was shown taking money on camera, did anyone say that Mr LK Advani or then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee should resign.
This drew vociferous protests from the Opposition and as the treasury benches joined the din, the BJP members staged a walkout.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha when Mr Dasmunsi sought to contradict Mr Advani's demand for Ms Gandhi's resignation as Congress members protested loudly, demanding that Mr Advani's remarks be expunged.
As both the Opposition bench and the treasury bench tried to shout each other down, an exasperated Somnath Chatterjee lost his patience, and said, "I am ashamed to be the Speaker of this House."
Earlier, supporting Mr Advani, Mr Prabhunath Singh, JD (U), said since Mr Natwar Singh had quit on moral grounds, Ms Gandhi should do the same.
Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M), and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI), attacked the BJP for stalling Parliament on the issue, accusing it of "double standards."
Mr Acharia reminded that even while the Tehelka Commission was probing the expose on fictitious defence deals, Mr George Fernandes was reinducted into the Cabinet as the Defence Minister.
Mr Dasgupta said if BJP believed that Ms Gandhi was involved, it should bring a no-confidence motion without stalling Parliament. "There is no other remedy. You will have to wait for five years," he added.
Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh demanded that Mr Natwar Singh give his version of the controversy and the circumstances leading to his resignation in Parliament.
<b>Natwar's resignation accepted</b>
New Delhi: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Mr K Natwar Singh, the Minister-without-Portfolio, from the Union Council of Ministers, a Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesperson said.
The Prime Minister, upon his arrival from Moscow on Wednesday, had forwarded the resignation of Mr Natwar Singh who submitted it on Tuesday night.
"This is my letter of resignation from the Union Cabinet as Minister-without-Portfolio. It has been a privilege to be a member of your Cabinet," Mr Natwar Singh said in his letter. Maintaining that he was innocent, he said "I am a Congress worker and I will always remain a Congress worker".Â
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Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
After forcing Union Minister Natwar Singh's resignation on the Volcker issue, the <b>Opposition on Wednesday trained its gun on Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.</b>
Demanding Ms Gandhi's resignation as chairperson of the UPA Government's National Advisory Council, the BJP-led Opposition disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, saying <b>"double standards" would not be accepted</b>.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition LK Advani led the walkout, contending that the yardstick applied to Mr Natwar Singh should equally be applied to Ms Gandhi as the Volcker Report also listed the Congress a non-contractual beneficiary along with Mr Singh.
This brought the members from the treasury benches to their feet.<b> "Our leader is not on a transfer order from outside,"</b> Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said, flatly rejecting the Opposition's demand.
<b>Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh took up the cudgels against the Government in the Upper House, criticising the "collective hysteria" of the ruling Congress for repeatedly protesting in the House whenever Ms Gandhi's name cropped up.</b>
Mr Singh said despite Mr Natwar Singh's resignation, the Government's response was incomplete as action was yet to be taken against the other entity mentioned in the report.
This sparked uproarious scenes as Congress members protested the attack on their leader.Responding for the Government, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee charged the Opposition with making an "illogical and irrational" demand as the Volcker Committee had not named Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
According to him, the report had named only Mr Natwar Singh and the Congress Party and the Congress was a corporate body, which could not be personified by anyone individual.
Attacking the BJP for pointing an accusing finger at the Congress, he asked when a president of the BJP was shown taking money on camera, did anyone say that Mr LK Advani or then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee should resign.
This drew vociferous protests from the Opposition and as the treasury benches joined the din, the BJP members staged a walkout.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha when Mr Dasmunsi sought to contradict Mr Advani's demand for Ms Gandhi's resignation as Congress members protested loudly, demanding that Mr Advani's remarks be expunged.
As both the Opposition bench and the treasury bench tried to shout each other down, an exasperated Somnath Chatterjee lost his patience, and said, "I am ashamed to be the Speaker of this House."
Earlier, supporting Mr Advani, Mr Prabhunath Singh, JD (U), said since Mr Natwar Singh had quit on moral grounds, Ms Gandhi should do the same.
Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M), and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI), attacked the BJP for stalling Parliament on the issue, accusing it of "double standards."
Mr Acharia reminded that even while the Tehelka Commission was probing the expose on fictitious defence deals, Mr George Fernandes was reinducted into the Cabinet as the Defence Minister.
Mr Dasgupta said if BJP believed that Ms Gandhi was involved, it should bring a no-confidence motion without stalling Parliament. "There is no other remedy. You will have to wait for five years," he added.
Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh demanded that Mr Natwar Singh give his version of the controversy and the circumstances leading to his resignation in Parliament.
<b>Natwar's resignation accepted</b>
New Delhi: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Mr K Natwar Singh, the Minister-without-Portfolio, from the Union Council of Ministers, a Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesperson said.
The Prime Minister, upon his arrival from Moscow on Wednesday, had forwarded the resignation of Mr Natwar Singh who submitted it on Tuesday night.
"This is my letter of resignation from the Union Cabinet as Minister-without-Portfolio. It has been a privilege to be a member of your Cabinet," Mr Natwar Singh said in his letter. Maintaining that he was innocent, he said "I am a Congress worker and I will always remain a Congress worker".Â
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