NEW DELHI, Aug 11: The United Front Government's record in Parliament has been nothing short of disastrous. After last week's poor floor management, things appeared no better today, when members of the Rajya Sabha slapped privilege notices on Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy and angrily accused him of trying to make Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla into a ``scapegoat'' for his own ``failures''.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and the Left Parties were unanimous in their condemnation of Reddy for his purported remarks on Heptulla at an ``informal'' press briefing last Friday which they said amounted to contempt of the House.

Reddy was quoted in newspapers as attributing the defeat of the bill on presidential election procedure to Heptulla's refusal to adjourn the Rajya Sabha despite his pleas.

Clarifying that it was the House, not Heptulla, that had decided to extend its sitting time, member after member demanded an explanation from Reddy as shouts of ``shame, shame'' rent the air.

Some even suggested that the Minister be summoned immediately and admonished by the House for casting aspersions on the Chair. Reddy was not present through most of the Zero Hour discussions, since he was yet to get back from Hyderabad where he spent the weekend.

When he finally made an appearance, he refused to give an ``impromptu reaction'' to deliberations which he had not heard.

Heptulla, who was in the Chair, said she would send the notices to the Privileges Committee. ``Let the Committee decide what to do,'' she remarked.The privilege notices were given by VK Malhotra and Satish Agarwal of the BJP, SK Singla and Vyalar Ravi of the Congress and Ram Jethmalani.

They were supported in their criticism of Reddy by. Swaminathan of the AIADMK, Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI, MA Baby of the CPM and several other Congress and BJP members.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Jayanthi Natarajan, who tried to intervene on behalf of Reddy, was shouted down by the members. ``The Minister cannot take the Floor when members are speaking. Don't allow her to speak again,'' snapped Vyalar Ravi to the Chair.

The matter was raised by Malhotra who accused Reddy and the Government of ``vicious propaganda'' to find a ``scapegoat'' for its own failure to manage its coalition partners. ``Two bills were defeated in Parliament last week, a third was deferred and on Friday, the Rajya Sabha had to be adjourned in the afternoon for lack of quorum. The Government can't run the House and it is blaming the Deputy Chairperson for its failures,'' he exclaimed.

Jethmalani pointed out that Reddy's remported remarks amounted to an insinuation of collusion between the Chair and the BJP. ``If ministers start ridiculing the House by attacking the Chair, it will be difficult to run this House,'' agreed HR Bhardwaj of the Congress.

Vyalar Ravi described Reddy's off-the-record briefing to the press as a ``whispering campaign''. Congress leader SB Chavan warned that unless the House took up this matter seriously, it would set a dangerous precedent.MA Baby pointed out that Reddy had broken the tradition of not questioning a ruling by the Chair outside the House. Several members wondered what had possessed Reddy to be so ``irresponsible''. ``He has become a different person after becoming Minister,'' Swaminathan commented.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.