11 down, more to go

Parliamentary history was made on the last day of the Winter Session on Friday when the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha together expelled 11 of their members for misconduct in accepting money for raising questions in the House.

This came in the face of severe opposition from the BJP and some of its allies over the procedure adopted.

In a precedent-setting decision, the first such in over 50 years, the two Houses, acting swiftly on the recommendations of the committees that went into the "cash-for-questions" scam exposed by a sting operation on the Aaj Tak TV channel, adopted motions for their expulsion which said their conduct was "unethical" and "unbecoming" of MPs and their continuance as "untenable."

With some more MPs having been suspended after being caught on camera in another sting operation by a different television channel, more expulsions from the two Houses are expected when Parliament reassembles. Five MPs are being investigated by committees of the two Houses for taking cash and commissions in return for MPLAD scheme contracts, and their reports are expected early in the new year. In addition, with some members raising questions about their colleagues letting out government accommodation illegally for rent, some more exposes cannot be ruled out.

[Two of the expelled MPs have said they will challenge the decision in court. "Definitely we will go to court... This was a conspiracy of the Congress," Pradeep Gandhi (BJP) was quoted by PTI as saying.

BSP MP Rajaram Pal asked why the Speaker had not allowed him to place the facts on the floor of the House. Describing the sting operation and his expulsion as a "big conspiracy," he said: "I will go to the public and the court."]

Ten of the 11 expelled MPs, who were not present in the proceedings on Friday, belonged to the Lok Sabha. Of them, five belonged to the BJP, three to the Bahujan Samaj Party and one each to the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The lone Rajya Sabha member also belonged to the BJP, which interestingly did not press for a division during voting.

In the Lok Sabha, the party and its allies barring the JD-U walked out before Speaker Somnath Chatterjee put the motion, moved by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, to vote. Both the Houses adopted the motions by voice vote.

The Lok Sabha was a totally divided House with the BJP, accompanied by the Biju Janata Dal, Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal, walking out in protest against the government's refusal to delay action against the MPs and refer the matter instead to the privileges committee.

But the division did not end there. Some members belonging to the UPA and its parties, such as the Samajwadi Party, BSP, LJP and JMM, joined the BJP in pleading for more time for the tainted MPs to present their case.

On the other hand, the JD-U, which is part of the Opposition NDA, came out in open and defiant support of the motion moved by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, with both its members stoutly defending the report of the Bansal committee and the expulsion of the MPs.

JD-U leader Prabhunath Singh argued that the expelled MPs had no case because they had refused to see the VCDs. "That shows they accept their crime. We sought the resignation of Natwar Singh in the Volcker Committee matter when there was no photo evidence. Earlier, George Fernandes had to resign with no one seeing him on TV. Yes, there is some scope for investigations for the MPLAD scheme, but Operation Duryodhan is clear. If no action is taken, then we cannot go back to the people."

The Telugu Desam Party was somewhere in between. While Dr S. Jagannath, speaking on behalf of the party, did seek more time and opportunity for the accused MPs, he did not join the walkout by the BJP and supported the motion.

Similarly, while BSP members forcefully argued for more time for the accused, when it came to voting they voted along with the others. But this was facilitated by a phone call from party president Mayawati, who called up the MPs some time before the debate ended and directed them to support the motion.

Similarly, many backbenchers and first-timers (many of those caught were backbenchers) from the treasury benches, even the Congress, appeared unhappy with the unilateral action against the MPs. Rajesh Mishra (Congress) questioned the antecedents of the TV channel which had carried the sting operation, and alleged that in the last general elections some media people had asked him for Rs 5 lakhs for carrying news stories favourable to him.

Similar questions about the motives of the media carrying out such sting operations were raised by Ranjeeta Ranjan (LJP) and two adivasi MPs Sunil Kumar Mahato (JMM) and another member from the BJP spoke in the same vein, describing this as an "anti-adivasi conspiracy."

Seeing the rather hostile mood of the backbenchers from the treasury benches, parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi went around talking separately to the UPA MPs sitting in the last rows. Thus, when the motion was finally put to vote, no one said "No".

It was left to Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, while winding up the day-long debate, to say that when members saw the whole scam on TV, the unanimous view was "to act as fast as possible... The mood was to debate, deliberate and decide on that day only. Now, 10 days later, the mood is different. The Criminal Procedure Code was not our guideline... The Mudgal case (the first — and so far only — time that an MP was expelled in India, way back in the 1950s) and the debate on corruption in the House earlier was... Yes, there will be implications. What the judiciary and others will do are actually matters of conjecture."

Earlier, while moving the expulsion motion, Mr Mukherjee said it was a "very sad occasion." It was not easy to pass judgment on colleagues. "But certain duties ought to be discharged however painful it could be," he said. Before signalling the debate to begin, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee too had dwelt on this theme. It was not a happy day for the Chair or the House, he said. "But sometimes the House has to do its duty to itself and to the nation," he said.

Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani summed up the mood prevailing among most MPs, even some from the treasury benches, when he said: "Corruption it was, but more than that it was stupidity that they thought it was an NGO. They fell for the lure. This punishment is not at all commensurate with the corruption. That is why I and my party dissociate from the motion," said Mr Advani, leading the walkout.

At the beginning of the debate, BJP deputy leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra moved an amendment proposing that the matter be referred to the privileges committee. Mr Malhotra said the Opposition wanted punishment for any MP found guilty, but the procedures had to be followed. Mr Malhotra, who had appended a dissenting note to the Bansal inquiry committee report, argued that the MPs had the right to be heard.

The expelled Lok Sabha MPs are Narendra Kumar Kushawaha, Annasaheb M.K. Patil, Manoj Kumar, Y.G. Mahajan, Pradeep Gandhi, Suresh Chandel, Ramsevak Singh, Lal Chandra Kol, Rajaram Pal and Chandra Pratap Singh. The lone Rajya Sabha member is Chhatarpal Singh Lodha.