NEW DELHI, November 5: After all the hype about the United Front's resolve to plug the loopholes in the Anti-Defection Law, its leaders made virtually no progress towards their objective after discussing the issue for about five hours today.

The UF leaders at their steering and core committee meetings discussed various proposals for strengthening the law but were unable to concretise anything. No headway could be made in view of the general opinion that any change in the law should not disturb the balance between the need for genuine dissent and discipline in political parties.

Each of the UF's constituents, including the Left parties which seemed to have very definite views on the subject, sought more to time to have intra-party discussions to formulate their stance on the proposals made.

The fact that going through with the amendments is not an easy task was implicit in UF spokesman S Jaipal Reddy's statement that ``each of the propositions bristles with difficulties.'' He said that since the Constitution would have to be amended, there had to be consensus across the board.

This however does not seem possible in the circumstances given the BJP's expression of suspicions of ``vested interest'' behind the UF's move to amend the Anti-Defection Law. For any amendment to the Constitution to be carried out, two-thirds of the Lok Sabha would have to back it and the UF, even with the support of the Congress, does not have the requisite strength to see it through on its own.

Reddy said that the UF was ``keen to get the amendments carried'' in the winter session of Parliament starting November 19 but qualified his sentence with the words ``if a consensus emerges.''

Asked if the urgency displayed by the UF to amend the law stemmed from the insistence of the Congress which is fearing incursions into its ranks from the BJP, he said that it was not a demand made by the Congress but by the people of the country.

Not only did the UF fail to achieve anything worthwhile on the Anti-Defection Law but also further put off a decision on the already much-delayed Targetted Public Distribution System under which the quota of foodgrains meant for those below the poverty line is to be increased.

At the steering committee, CPI (M) leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet and D Raja of the CPI contested Prime Minister I K Gujral's doubts on the availability of foodgrains to give effect to the decision. They reminded the meeting that Food Minister Raghuvans Prasad Singh had gone on record to say that availability of foodgrains was no problem. At the core committee meeting, to which both Singh and Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra were invited, it was decided to make a precise assessment of the availability by mid-December. Gujral also said that the Food Corporation of India would be asked to make procurements to build up stocks. The UF also declared its intentions to go ahead with the Bills on Lok Pal, electoral reforms, the Right to Information and the one to make the Right to Education a fundamental right in the winter session of Parliament.

Gowda wanted to know what the Government was doing about the Lok Pal Bill introduced during his tenure as prime minister. Narrating his Karnataka experience where he had subjected himself to inquiry by the Lok Ayukta, he suggested that family members of ministers and the Prime Minister should also be brought under the Lok Pal's purview.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.