COVER STORY

'There is no alternative to the ruling formation'

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government at the Centre celebrated one year in office on March 19 although its ability to survive and complete its full term is in doubt. Recent events have proved the Government's vulnerability in the face of sustained opposition from within the coalition and from outside. BJP vice-president and Lok Sabha member Krishan Lal Sharma, in an interview to V. Venkatesan, he explained how the BJP looks at its travails. Excerpts:

A serious Opposition challenge to the Government was witnessed during the Budget session of Parliament. Do you think the majority support of the Government will come under threat?

We have majority support in the Lok Sabha. That is what matters. There is no threat to it. A defeat in the Rajya Sabha does not mean that the Government has lost its majority. Governments with lesser majorities in the Lok Sabha have survived in office. Secondly, there is no alternative to the present ruling formation.

The Congress(I) has supported the government in matters of economic policy, such as the Patents Bill and the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill. Opposition to the economic policy appears to have come from within the BJP, from the swadeshi lobby.

If there is any disagreement among the allies, we try to sort it out through discussions. It is not that the Congress(I) is supporting the Government. The approaches on these issues have been similar. Otherwise they would have supported us on the Bihar issue also. After all, in a democratic set-up differences can be expressed, and that must be allowed. But every decision taken by the Cabinet and the Prime Minister is being supported by the party.

SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The Opposition has demanded an inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the dismissal of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and the allegations made by Mohan Guruswamy, former adviser to the Finance Minister. Why is the BJP against it?

There is no question of agreeing to a JPC inquiry. We have agreed to a discussion. Parliament has never taken up for investigation an issue raised outside the House. It is the tradition. After all, there should be some concrete issue. If anything arises out of the discussion, then it can be dealt with afterwards. Allegations are there, but he (Mohan Guruswamy) never levelled the allegations when he was part of the Government. When he came out, he lost his credibility. He is violating norms by talking about some official files that were shown to him before he was ousted. Any allegation made by a bureaucrat cannot be the subject-matter of a JPC probe.

Did the Bihar issue cause an embarrassment to the Government? You seem to have suffered a loss of face because of your decision to impose President's Rule and not to seek the Rajya Sabha's approval for it. Your ally, the Samata Party, is split on this issue.

No. The Samata Party is not divided on this issue. The allies (of the BJP) are supporting the Government. The internal affairs of our allies are not of any concern to us. There is no split as far as the Samata Parliamentary Party is concerned. The incidents (the recent massacre committed by the MCC) since the return of the Rabri Devi Government in Bihar have vindicated our stand. This Government (Rabri Devi's) cannot function, cannot maintain law and order. So let the Congress(I) take the blame. They are responsible for what is happening.

We did not seek the Rajya Sabha's approval for the imposition of President's Rule because we knew the fate the move would suffer. But at least now, we can say that the people of Bihar, the Governor of Bihar, the President of India and the Lok Sabha are unanimous on this issue. The Congress(I) was somewhat unnerved by the Prime Minister's bus journey to Lahore; otherwise why should the party change its mind when its president Sonia Gandhi had said that the Rabri Devi regime had lost the moral right to rule? We thought that they would support our move although they did not assure us of support. That is what we assumed after Sonia Gandhi made that statement. But they are now openly supporting the Rabri Devi regime. The Congress(I) has taken a suicidal step. And it did cause embarrassment to the Government.