UPA's Survival On 22nd July? And Aftermath -2

[acharya]

<b>Error attack hits BJP: Blasts plot to win Muslims, cover vote-note</b>
Suman K Jha
Posted online: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 0224 hrs Print Email
NDA IN DELHI Allies JD(U), Akalis, BJD, Sena squirm, slam BJP

New Delhi, JULY 28: Various NDA constituents have taken strong exception to BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s remarks that the recent blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore were “a conspiracy to divert attention from the ‘cash-for-votes scandal’.”


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“I see a conspiracy to divert attention from the cash-for-votes scam,” said Swaraj at a press conference after an NDA meeting here today. “The Muslim votes got scattered from them (the UPA) because of friendship with the US. They are raising the bogey of the BJP to bring them back into their camp.”

She also claimed that the blasts, within 24 hours, in the two states ruled by it also made it believe that there was “something more than meets the eye.” Asked if she was alleging that the UPA had a role in the blasts, she said: “I have said what I wanted, it is for all of you to interpret the rest.”

These remarks angered the BJP’s allies who stopped short of calling Swaraj’s statement as outrageous.

Said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader S S Dhindsa: “Without any pro, there’s no point in making these kinds of allegations.” Added Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) Prabhunath Singh: “I don’t quite agree with this assertion. There’s no co-relation between the trust vote and the blasts.” Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Braj Kishore Tripathi said that he had “no information to this effect”.

In Patna, speaking earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said it was not time for “finding fault with functioning of intelligence agencies” after the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. “It’s time to strengthen communal harmony to foil divisive designs of terrorists. Political bickering could only make us fall in trap of extremist elements. Blaming an agency or community would not serve any purpose but standing united would surely do in this hour of crisis.”

It was the Shiv Sena that took the BJP to task on the issue. Its leader Anant Geete told The Indian Express: “National security is above everything else. There should be no politics on terrorism. There was no discussion on this issue in the NDA meeting.”

Sushma, however, stood by her statement. “This was not part of the NDA briefing. This was my personal remark and I stand by it,” she told this paper.

Earlier in the day, too, the BJP was over-ruled by its allies on the twin proposals of “a no-trust motion against the government” and “mass resignations from the Lok Sabha”. When the main opposition party mooted the idea of a no-trust motion, the allies were far from convinced. “What’s the logic in the move, when our MPs, who voted along with the UPA during the July 22 trust vote, continue to be members of the House?” asked the leader of an NDA constituent.

“The BJP’s suggestion lacked conviction. The allies overwhelmingly voted the suggestion out,” added another leader. The meeting, however, agreed that the NDA should block any new bill in the House as the government’s “trust vote was sullied by the ‘cash-for-votes scandal’.”

“Let the government check its majority in every bill they introduce. After all the cash they paid was for the trust vote and the UPA hence may not have the support of the members who voted in their favour in the confidence motion,” Swaraj later said.

The issue of “mass resignations from the House”, too, was vetoed by the allies. With BSP MPs toying with quitting the House en masse to preempt any CBI action against its leader Mayawati, the BJP doesn’t want to come across as an also-ran in its opposition to the UPA, a reason why the issue figured prominently in the meeting.

The suggestion, though, didn’t find favour with the allies even when the Biju Janata Dal saw a “Bofors-like potential” in the issue. While allies like the Shiv Sena and SAD were strongly against mass resignations, the JD-U argued that resignations, if absolutely necessary, should be considered only on “issues like price rise”. Coming around, the BJP then suggested that “the struggle would continue in the House as well as outside the House”. BJP’s L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and V K Malhotra; JD-U’s Sharad Yadav and Prabhunath Singh; Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi and Anant Geete; SAD’s S S Dhindsa and BJD’s B K Tripathi took part in the deliberations.

Later, referring to reports that the UPA government was considering postponement of Parliament’s monsoon, scheduled for August 11, Sushma said: “There is no reason for cancellation or postponement of the session. We will oppose any such move tooth and nail. A debate on the nuclear deal is yet to be held in the Rajya Sabha.”