NEW DELHI, July 24: Classoic Left doublespeak was on display in the Lok Sabha today during the discussion on the adjournment motion moved by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the Centre's handling of the controversy over Laloo Prasad Yadav.

The Left, which had been leading the campaign for Laloo Yadav's resignation, was strangely muted when it came to allowing the BJP motion to be taken up. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader in the Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee and Forward Bloc leader Chitta Basu spoke from the Left's side. The Revolutionary Socialist Party didn't get a chance today while the CPI's leader, Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, was not in the House at that time.

But what Chatterjee and Basu said was enough of an indicator. None of them wanted the motion to be admitted as it would amount to a discussion on the conduct of those holding the posts of Governor and chief minister. And when Congress member Priya Ranjan Das Munshi referred to his motion under Rule 184 on the alleged Personal Ledger (PL) scam in West Bengal, the reason for Left's volte-face was clear.

Somnath Chatterjee, a barrister of repute, had this to say, ``An adjournment motion usually comes up only if the Indian government fails to act according to the constitution or the law. Where is the constitutional impropriety in this case? The only thing the Centre could have done is to impose Article 356 (dismissing the state government) and if that is the argument, then let the motion say the Centre failed in implementing 356. I agree that corruption is eating into the vitals of this country but that does not mean that each and every motion has to be admitted.''

He pleaded with Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma not to create a precedent which would lead to difficult times in the future. Chitta Basu went a step ahead. ``If the motion is admitted then the internal administrative situation of a state will be discussed. At this rate, the Parliament will be reduced to discussing Legislative Assemblies of all states,'' the Forward Bloc leader said. These arguments came after both Left leaders stressed that they didn't want to stall any discussion on the Bihar issue. CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, Chitta Basu, the RSP and the CPI(ML)-Liberation have all been seeking Laloo Yadav's ouster from the day the Chief Minister's troubles in the fodder scam began. But today, the Left was clearly afraid that a full-fledged discussion, followed by voting, could take place also on the PL scam in West Bengal.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.