NEW DELHI, 2 March 2005 — Questioning the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janana Party-led Goa state government, former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee described it as the “murder” of democracy and called for fresh elections in the state.
The two-and-half-year-old Goa government was dismissed by the governor a month ago (Feb. 2) shortly after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar won a controversial vote of confidence amid pandemonium in the assembly when the speaker had independent MLA Philipe Neri Rodriguez removed from the house.
Accusing Goa Governor S.C. Jamir of “murdering” democracy, Vajpayee said: “Democracy has been murdered in Goa. The governor has crossed the limits of his powers and dismissed an elected government. This is an issue of serious concern for democracy. The assembly should be dissolved and fresh elections held in the state.”
Terming the developments in Goa as “ridiculous,” Vajpayee said: “What democracy is this? An elected government is dismissed.” Vajpayee accused the governor of “acting at the behest of the center.”
Regarding the role of the speaker, he said: “If there are grievances against the speaker, the solution has to be found within the house and not outside. The remedy does not lie with the governor.”
Earlier, the BJP parliamentary party, chaired by Vajpayee, decided to press for an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the issue. As soon as the two houses assembled yesterday morning, they plunged into turmoil with the BJP-led NDA members accusing Governor Jamir of “murdering” democracy in Goa by dismissing a democratically elected government.
Leader of opposition L.K. Advani moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha saying: “A democratically elected government in Goa was dismissed a month ago in an arbitrary manner.”
Dissatisfied with Advani’s explanation, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refused to admit the motion. However, the issue could be discussed in some other form, he said.
As the uproar continued, the speaker adjourned the house for 15 minutes. When the house reassembled, the speaker said that he had discussed the issue with leaders of various parties and following “a request from all sides,” he was adjourning the house for the day.
The speaker also observed that as the matter was pending in the Supreme Court, he could not allow a discussion on it. The speaker also observed that the conduct of a governor could not be debated by the house as an adjournment motion.
The speaker recalled that when on Nov. 27, 1996, the then leader of the opposition, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had given a notice for an adjournment motion on the alleged “unconstitutional” action of the Uttar Pradesh governor and continuation of president’s rule in the state, as the matter was sub judice, the notice was disallowed. On this ground, before adjourning the house, the speaker said: “I withhold my consent to the notice of adjournment motion.”
Meanwhile, Advani held that the office of the governor had been abused and a democratically elected government dismissed even after it had proved its majority. He said: “In such a situation, the best course is to go to people.”
Advani also said he had talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee in this regard.
On his part, Mukherjee, who is also leader of the house, said that as he had mentioned his name along with prime minister and home minister, he was reacting. Otherwise, he would not talk on the admissibility of the motion, as only the chair was competent to make an observation on it.
Mukherjee said that an artificial majority was created in the Goa Assembly as the speaker threw out a member and subsequently the BJP government proved its majority by a single vote.
After hearing both sides, the speaker rejected the adjournment notice. He said: “My ruling is that adjournment notice is not admissible.” He then adjourned the House for the day.
The Rajya Sabha was also rocked by BJP-led NDA terming the dismissal of the Goa government as “a murder of democracy,”, forcing its adjournment for the day.
