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Now, 'Kargil coffin' haunts Govt.
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, DEC. 11. A determined Opposition today hauled the BJP-led coalition Government over the coals, charging it with financial impropriety in the `Kargil coffin scam' and forcing adjournment of both Houses of Parliament.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were plunged in turmoil as slogan-shouting Opposition members waved copies of an English daily that carried a CAG report on financial impropriety in purchase of coffins for the jawans who laid down their lives in mid-1999 during the Kargil conflict with Pakistan. Both Houses witnessed two adjournments before lunch and for the day after recess.
As the Lok Sabha assembled in the morning, Opposition members were on their feet, shouting ``shame, shame''. The uproar continued as almost all Opposition members were either speaking or shouting simultaneously. Perched precariously on the edge of the well of the House, they were in no mood to listen to the pleadings of the Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi.
``You can raise the issue in zero hour. Why are you disturbing the question hour? This is not correct. What are you doing,'' the Speaker was heard pleading. As it failed to bring any order, he adjourned the House till noon.
When the House reassembled, the furore showed no signs of abating. However, the schedule of tabling papers and reports was carried out for a few minutes. As the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, sought to introduce the anti-terrorism Bill, Opposition members trooped into the well. The Speaker adjourned the House till 2 p.m. even as members of the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left parties continued to sit in the well as a mark of protest.
As the House reassembled after the lunch break, the members again stormed the well showing scant regard to the code of conduct so painstakingly put together recently.
Even the rule of automatic suspension appeared to hold little ground in the surcharged atmosphere. ``Coffin chor, gaddi choro'', ``Gali, gali mein shor hai, BJP sarkar chor hai'' and ``Coffin choron ki kahani, CAG ki zabani'' were some slogans raised by the Opposition members. The Deputy Speaker, Mr. P.M. Sayeed, made attempts to restore order but was forced to adjourn the House for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha, a determined Opposition blocked any other issue from being raised. The House did not even take up the question hour even though Telugu Desam members said they wanted to bring up the issue of tobacco exports, listed as the first question for the day.
The `Kargil coffin' report cropped up after the senior Congress leader, Mr. Arjun Singh, was permitted by the Chairman, Mr. Krishan Kant, to speak as soon as the House assembled. Mr. Arjun Singh, who was interrupted repeatedly by members of the ruling coalition, said the report was serious and he was raising it not to score any political point but because it had a bearing on the country. When some ruling party members insisted that Mr. Singh be brief, he retorted that it would be more ``unpalatable'' for them if he did so.
The Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who too was interrupted, demanded the resignation of the Defence Minister. The report had shocked the nation, he said, and attacked the Government for such a ``sordid'' state of affairs that it did not even show respect in death to those who had sacrificed their lives for the country.
The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, said the Government was not shying away from any discussion and said the issue could be raised in the short duration discussion scheduled for the day on the slow progress of the probe relating to matters arising out of the Tehelka tapes.
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