NEW DELHI, 19 November 2002 — The winter session of the Parliament opened yesterday with a determined opposition attacking the government and the ruling Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for "polarizing" Indian society on religious lines.

Opposition MPs blasted the government for allowing BJP allies like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to undermine constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission by questioning its impartiality.

"If you don’t have respect for constitutional institutions you have no right to remain in important positions," Praveen Rashtrapal, a Congress MP from Gujarat said, referring to the unseemly criticism of Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and VHP leaders.

He was taking part in an opposition-sponsored motion accusing the government of failing to curb communal forces, particularly in Gujarat, where elections have been called in December in the backdrop of large-scale sectarian violence this year.

The adjournment motion on Gujarat was admitted in the lower house yesterday. The notice for the motion was given by Marxist member Roopchand Pal.

The Congress MP also blasted Modi, VHP leader Praveen Togadia and other leaders for persisting with a campaign of calumny against party chief Sonia Gandhi.

"You have no right to abuse and insult the leader of the opposition in Indian Parliament.

"I can’t use the words they have used because I am an educated man. But if the same words were used against my mother, I will kill that man," Rashtrapal, whose speech, full of wit and sarcasm, left the ruling party benches groping for an adequate response.

He was referring to Togadia’s reference to Sonia as a barking "Italian dog." The remark sparked nationwide outrage and forced the prime minister to chide the VHP veteran.

The Congress MP, speaking in English, blasted both Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani for allowing the Modi and the VHP to criticize the Vatican and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and said these were against international norms and public decency.

BJP chief whip V.K. Malhotra provoked the opposition when he proposed that the Parliament should "congratulate" the Gujarat government for ensuring peace in the state during a march organized by the VHP on Sunday.

He also contrasted the situation in Gujarat with the "inaction" of the Congress government in dealing with the anti-Sikh violence in the capital following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, threatened to move a privilege motion against Malhotra for hurling "unsubstantiated charges."

Communist Party of India-Marxist member Subodh Roy, who moved the motion, accused the BJP of trying to impose fascism in place of democracy in the country and said India had never before seen such "ill-treatment" of minorities as Gujarat had witnessed. He said people once looked at Vajpayee with "hope" but he had proved to be "hand in glove" with the VHP leaders. "People are seeing through your game," he said.

The opposition also sought to move censure motions against the government on the political situation in Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling coalition was on the verge of collapse two weeks ago, and on a severe drought raging in parts of the country.

Earlier, the Rajya Sabha adjourned shortly after assembling as a tribute to BJP MP Narendra Mohan who died on Sept. 20.

The house will meet next tomorrow. Tuesday, the birth anniversary of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak, is a holiday.

Gujarat poll countdown begins; govt pledges peaceful elections

Meanwhile, the countdown to the crucial Gujarat Assembly elections formally began yesterday with the issue of a notification setting off the process of filing of nominations by candidates.

The Election Commission issued the notification for the Dec. 12 poll to pick a new 182-member assembly amid hectic activity in the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress to finalize their lists of candidates.

The last date for filing nominations is Nov. 25, and these will be scrutinized the next day. The last day for withdrawing candidature is Nov. 28. The ballots will be cast through electronic voting machines. Votes will be counted on Dec. 15.

Apart from the assembly polls, by-elections will be held to fill three vacant Lok Sabha seats from Mehsana (Gujarat), Godda (Jharkhand) and Nainital (Uttaranchal).

By-elections to the assembly seats from Daporiji (Arunachal Pradesh), Khumtai (Assam) and Bansur, Sagwara and Bali (all three in Rajasthan) will also be held on the same day.

The BJP-led government at the center assured yesterday it would not allow religious bloodletting to disrupt elections in Gujarat. "Our aim will be to conduct fair polls in Gujarat," Advani, said in the lower house of Parliament.