Lok Sabha Session Likely To Be Stormy

The Lok Sabhas special one day session, which would test the United Front governments majority, is likely to be eventful with possibilities of a climax and an anti-climax to the two week long drama that began with Congress president Sitaram Kesri withdrawing support to the ten-month long 14-party coalition government.

Despite the sabre-rattling till late yesterday night, observers held that the Congress and the United Front would hammer out a compromise. This would lead to an anti-climax, thereby making the confidence vote a mere formality.

If the two sides enter the House with daggers drawn, the session would be eventful. Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has allocated seven hours for the debate on the confidence vote, followed by Prime Minister HD Deve Gowdas one hour reply at seven PM.

The House will Assemble at 11 AM and adjourn for an hour for lunch at one PM. Thereafter, the debate would resume at 2 PM and continue till seven PM. There is no government business listed, although 13 bills which have got the assent of President Shankar Dayal Sharma will be laid on the table for members information.

That the House would witness heated debate and tempers was reflected in the division between the Congress leaders on who should be fielded by the party as key speakers. Kesri, who is a Rajya Sabha member, would not get a chance to speak in the Lok Sabha. He has very few articulate leaders able to convey his viewpoint in the Lok Sabha.

To complicate matters for Kesri, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Raos supporters are putting on pressure for Rao speaking on behalf of the party. Rao, who was Congress president before Kesri, had extended unconditional support to the Gowda government, promising that the support was for the full term. It would be difficult for Rao to toe the Kesri line and criticise Gowda so vehemently.

As Rao enjoys considerable influence in the House, the Congress would not be able to prevent him from speaking if he decides to. The other speakers from the Congress are likely to be the partys Lok Sabha leader Sharad Pawar, chief whip Santosh Mohan Deb and former Union minister G Venkatswamy.

The prominent speakers from the BJP are likely to be the partys Lok Sabha deputy leader Jaswant Singh, former party president Murli Manohar Joshi and general secretary Pramod Mahajan, besides former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The BJP is also likely to allocate some of its time for Samata party president George Fernandes.