Gujral Decides To Stick To Chidambarams Budget

Prime Minister IK Gujral yesterday told the Bharatiya Janata Party that the provisions of the finance bill presented by the Deve Gowda government would not be changed even if its chief architect former finance minister P Chidambaram did not join his government to steer the budget through Parliament.

Gujral and other front leaders continued yesterday to try and persuade Chidambarams party, the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), to reconsider its decision to support the government from outside.

Gujral told the BJPs deputy Lok Sabha leader, Jaswant Singh, during a chat in Parliament that even if they failed to rope in the TMC, the budget would stand.

Gujral said there will be no change in the finance bill, Singh told Business Standard when asked about the discussion.

The bill will be taken up for discussion on April 30 along with the railway budget and the demands for grants of various ministries.

The finance bill has to be passed before May 14 under a constitutional proviso that makes it mandatory for the budget to receive parliamentary approval within 75 days of its presentation. If this deadline is breached, all taxation proposals will automatically lapse.

(PTI adds: The new cabinet, which met yesterday, is understood to have discussed the passage of the budget and the finance bill.

Certain anomalies which the previous government had already decided to remove in the finance bill also came up for discussion.

The finance ministry has already begun preparations for finalising the draft with necessary modifications needed to bring about small amendments, official sources indicated.)

Parliament will adjourn until April 30 after voting today on a confidence motion to be moved by the Gujral government.

The business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha, which met yesterday to decide the schedule for todays proceedings, also debated whether the Finance Bill introduced by the Deve Gowda government (and which had already become a property of the House) needed to be introduced afresh by the Gujral government. Speaker PA Sangma is reported to have said he would consider the issue.

This is only a technicality since Gujral, who has retained the finance portfolio in the hope that Chidambaram will soon return to North Block, has made it amply clear to the opposition and in a speach to the CII that he was all for continuity.

The passage of the budget should be a smooth affair. The AICC spokesperson said yesterday that the Congress was in favour of passing the budget. The Steering Committee of the United Front is expected to meet during the recess to discuss the Lefts strong reservations about some provisions in the budget. In any case, the Left leaders have made it clear they will not endanger the Gujral government over any of the budget proposals. Chidambaram is reportedly eager to return as the finance minister. A few other TMC MPs share this view, some front leaders said. Despite tremendous pressure from the rest of the Front, industry and others concerned with the economy, TMC President GK Moopanar was reluctant to change his mind.

Under pressure from his colleagues, he told his party MPs to decide what should be done. They convened a meeting at the residence of his confidant, D Athithan, at 5 pm yesterday, but dispersed at about 7 pm without a formal discussion because Moopanar did not turn up. Athithan later said the party had decided to go to the people to ask what its course should be in the circumstances. Our Chennai bureau reports that TMC workers went around corporates and other offices in Chennai yesterday seeking funds. This could be a part of that process. Some TMC MPs are keen to participate in the Gujral government. Others, angry at the rejection of Moopanars claim to be prime minister, suggested that the party break its alliance with the DMK and return to the Congress. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had subtly opposed Moopanars candidature.

Karunanidhi was engaged in trying to mend fences with his Tamil ally yesterday. He was part of the four-member delegation that met Moopanar at midnight on Sunday in a last-ditch effort to get him to allow his colleagues to take the oaths of office along with Gujral on Monday morning.

Gujral is leading the initiative to win back Chidambaram and his three other colleagues to the government. The CPI(M), which was most vocal in branding the TMC as a Congress stooge, was busy explaining to Moopanar how much they valued the contribution of the TMC in the formation and running of the United Front. It was mainly because of the whisper campaign of the CPI(M) against the TMC that CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury accompanied Gujral and UF convenor Chandrababu Naidu as part of the midnight mission to persuade Moopanar.

Senior CPI(M) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu also called Moopanar just before the swearing-in ceremony in a last-minute effort to make him change his stand.