The Week Magazine....Daily Update

April 23, 1997

Courtesy Congress,
Gujral Govt wins trust vote

No witch-hunt, consensus is my mantra, says new PM

The United Front government headed by Inder Kumar Gujral won the confidence vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The confidence motion moved by Mr Gujral was carried through by a voice vote with only the BJP opposing it. However, the BJP did not ask for a division.

Mr Gujral, who was sworn in on Monday as the Prime Minister, was asked by the President to seek a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister sought all parties cooperation in building a strong nation and said the state was supreme and could not belong to single party.
Replying to a day-long debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of confidence moved by him. Mr Gujral said the state belongs to all of us. Everyone's contribution is needed to make it stronger.

Speaker P A Sangma adjourned the Lok Sabha till April 30 after the government won the confidence vote.

Earlier, in the day, moving the one-line motion which said, "This House expresses confidence in the council of ministers." Mr Gujral informed of members that "witch-hunting" would not be allowed and he would run the government on the basis of consensus.

Consensus, he said, was the best way of resolving all contentious problems as had been successfully witnessed in the area of foreign affairs.

The Prime Minister's reference to witch-hunting prompted leader of the Opposition Atal Bihari Vajpayee to ask Mr Gujral to clarify whether witch-hunting was being practised now and if he wanted to stop it.

"Or whether you want to indulge in cover-up?" Mr Vajpayee asked. Mr Gujral replied that he had taken over only a day before and had not even seen the files.

The Prime Minister appealed to the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) to return to Front government.

"I appeal to Mr Chidambaram to please come here and take charge: Mr Gujral said pointedly to the former finance minister sitting in one of the front rows next to CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee.

The Prime Minister also appealed to TMC leader G K Moopanar to reconsider the decision of staying away from the new government, saying there could have been reasons for getting upset and someone might have played the mischief.

Opposing the confidence motion, BJP MP Sushma Swaraj criticised Mr Gujral for accepting the prime ministership, saying no one had learnt from the history of the Congress which withdrew support to Charan Singh, Chandra Shekahar and H D Deve Gowda.

She said Mr Gujral was in "shackles" as he was heading the Front which was not a cohesive unit.

Ms Swaraj alleged that the Gowda ministry was removed to prevent corruption cases from being exposed. It was a conspiracy between the United Front and the Congress, she added.

Mr Gujral, she alleged, had to ward off pressures from Mr Gowda to "expedite the Bofors case to keep 10, Janpath happy and also Mr Kesri and former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao."

In an obvious reference to Janata Dal member Devendra Prasad Yadav, food and civil supplies minister in the Gowda ministry, who has been dropped by Mr Gujral, Ms Swaraj said he was removed from the cabinet as he protested against the change in Front leadership.

"No reason was given when Congress withdrew support. At least now some reason should be given as why it has again extended support," she asked.

Congress MP Sharad Pawar dwelt at length on the circumstances under which the Congress had to extend support to the United Front after the 1996 parliamentary elections.

He said the voters had given a fractured verdict and no political party had enough members to form the government on its own. Since the country needed a stable government and there was need to maintain continuity in the economic policies initiated by the Congress government, his party decided to support the United Front.

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