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Leak fails to divide Opp
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
BJP mulls Privilege Motion against Home Minister
The Opposition feels that leakage of the Liberhan Commission Report was a deliberate ploy to destroy the unity among the anti-Government parties on important issues like the price rise and problem of sugarcane farmers. Even anti-BJP parties who have always been highly critical of the BJP over Babri Masjid demolition, recently showed inclination to join hands with the main Opposition to take on the UPA in Parliament.
“This is a planned and motivated leak. The first motivation for leaking the report is the unity in Opposition on the sugarcane price issue which the Government wanted to break. This unity would have continued on price rise and other issues,” Deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Parliament after both Houses were adjourned for the day. “We are contemplating moving a Privilege Motion against the Home Minister on the issue,” Swaraj said.
The senior BJP leader directly blamed Home Ministry of leaking the report and wondered how the Government could remain silent on the authenticity of the news items on television channels and in newspapers based on the report.
“You cannot just allow series of news items being published in newspapers without letting the people of the country know if they were at all true,” Swaraj said, adding that the BJP would replay to all charges once the report was tabled in Parliament.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the report was only with the Home Ministry and the Commission and the dignity of the House has been lowered by leakage of the report to the media before it is tabled in the House along with the Action Taken Report (ATR). The media report, he said, quote sources in the Home Ministry for the report. “Why can't the Government place the report (in the Parliament) and have a discussion.”
He wanted an inquiry into who leaked the report to the newspaper. Jaitley said he has no reason to disbelieve the Home Minister that the report was not leaked at his end. Noting that the only other copy was with the Commission, Jaitley said it meant the leak has taken place at the Commission's end and then it is a breach of privilege.
“It's a very serious matter”, he told Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan requesting him to enquire into the matter.
Agreeing with Jaitley, Amar Singh (SP) said the report was pending for 17 long years and if one copy was in the safe custody of the Home Minister, that means it has leaked from the Commission. “It is shameful” and a breach of privilege of the House,” he said.
Swaraj said the Government wanted to divert attention from the Opposition’s plan of raising Madhu Koda and 2G spectrum allocation scams in Parliament. “The Government wanted to influence the Jharkhand elections where the first phase of polling will be held on November 25,” she said.
The BJP’s charge was backed by the CPI and Rashtriya Lok Dal, which had launched a joint struggle against the Sugarcane Ordinance by the Government and forced it to withdraw the controversial clause about fair and remunerative price.
“The leakage seems to be deliberate to break our unity displayed at the time of protest against sugarcane prices,” Singh said and added that the Government was really shaken to see the impact of agitation.
CPI’s national secretary D Raja said, “The Government is afraid of impending issues and there is apprehension that the report is leaked from some quarters of the Government to divert the issues.”
CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said the leak was a clear case of breach of privilege. “Both the Government and Liberhan Commission are saying that the report has not been leaked from their end but it has to come from one of them as what has been leaked is not some paragraphs but comprehensive summary that has come from an authentic source,” he said.
However, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is desperate to woo back his Muslim voters, demanded punishment for those responsible of the demolition. “Punish those who are responsible for martyrdom of Babri Masjid,” Mulayam said.
Holding the Government responsible for the ‘leak’ Swaraj argued that since there were just two copies of the report -- one with Justice MS Liberhan and the other with the Home Ministry “under lock and key” — if the Government did not come clear on how the report was leaked, the BJP would directly allege that the report was leaked by the Home Ministry.
Swaraj said Home Minister P Chidambaram cannot evade the Government’s responsibility by merely saying that leakage of the report was “unfortunate” as the incident showed contempt of Parliament.
In reply to a question on whether her party would agree to tabling of only the English version of the report, Swaraj said she would accept if the Government gave an assurance that the Hindi version would be tabled soon.
Swaraj said BJP would not have demanded tabling of the report before the stipulated time had the leakage not taken place. When asked about the Opposition strategy on Tuesday in Parliament, Swaraj said it would be decided in the Parliamentary Party meeting to be held in the morning.
BJP said it was also “shocked and surprised” at the mention of its veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the report. However, Swaraj said a detailed reply on BJP’s stand on the report and the demolition issue would be given only when the full report was tabled.
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