Buta issue stalls Parliament

Parliament was shut down without transacting any business during the question hour as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members trooped to the well of the House shouting slogans against Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Bihar Governor Buta Singh.

However, the Rajya Sabha resumed rather tamely when Home Minister Shivraj Patil explained that while the Opposition was free to criticise a serving minister and hold up Parliament on that account, criticism of the governor's conduct was a different matter and required a substantive motion.

If Opposition leaders were worried about the conduct of the Assembly elections in Bihar, their anxiety was misplaced because the Election Commission was an autonomous body whose conduct was above reproach. The Upper House quietly resumed business after this assurance.

In the Lok Sabha, after a three-hour adjournment, the House passed the Employment Guarantees Bill, justifying the day's sitting.

But the whole Buta Singh-Lalu Prasad controversy got a new twist when Lok Janashakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan said at a press conference, that while left alone, the administrative measures undertaken by the Buta regime had seen a palpable decrease in levels of crime, this had gone up after the government had appointed advisers to the governor.

Paswan railed against Lalu but stopped short of naming him. "People say, my party is dead. If that is so, why come to me for negotiations? How can you negotiate with dead people," Paswan asked. Under no circumstances would his party settle for anything less than a Muslim chief minister, he said indicating that Bihar was in for another electoral logjam.

In the current situation, Lalu will not accept anyone as chief minister but Rabri Devi. To keep the alliance alive, the RJD might be forced to give the Congress more seats than they were given the last time around.

The strength of the Congress being what it is in Bihar, the chances of the party winning even the seats it currently holds are slim.

With Paswan spelling out loud and clear that he would not be part of the alliance, the stage looks set for an NDA chief minister.