Two senior ministers, Mr P. Chidambaram and Mr Kapil Sibal, appear to be growing isolated in the Congress party on the issues of “saffron terror” and the Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010, which was deferred in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. It seems they have been unable to take the party along with them on these sensitive issues.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram, whose moves on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and some controversial ideas on how to check Maoists evoked sharp reactions within the Congress, has of late generated a controversy by using the phrase “saffron terror”. On Wednesday, he tried to justify it by saying the message behind the phrase is that right-wing fundamentalist groups are suspected to be behind some bomb blasts. “I do not claim a patent on the phrase as several colleagues in the UPA have used it earlier. The message should not be lost in the phrase,” the minister said.
The Congress has already rejected Mr Chidambaram’s interpretation of “saffron terror”. AICC general secretary and media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi had clarified the party’s official stand on it. On Wednesday, another AICC general secretary, Mr Digvijay Singh, said the Congress had never used the phrase “saffron terror” and strongly objected to Mr Chidambaram’s attempt to justify use of the phrase. “I have objections to the use of caste, colour and religion to describe terror,” Mr Singh told reporters shortly after the home minister maintained the phrase had brought home the message of right-wing terror and the purpose had been served.
However, Mr Singh used the word “Hindu fundamentalists” to describe right-wing terror. “Terrorism in the country arises from fundamentalists among the Hindus and the Muslims,” Mr Singh viewed. Asked about Mr Chidambaram’s comment that the phrase “saffron terror” was not his patent, Mr Singh said, “He should come out with the name of the patent holder.” Noting that Left organisations have been using the phrase, Mr Singh said, “In India, saffron is associated with valour and has religious connotations.”
Mr Singh, who has been at loggerheads with Mr Chidambaram on issues like tackling the Naxal menace and the changes in the Arms Act, however, said he was “very happy” that the home ministry has taken note of the activities of “Hindu fundamentalists”.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal has also been unable to convince his own party MPs on the Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010. He was keen on its passage in the Upper House. Senior Congress leader and CWC member K. Keshav Rao raised serious objections to the bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, and his objections are being appreciated in the party with a section of Congress MPs blaming Mr Sibal for ignoring the standing committee’s recommendations and not taking the party with him. Instead, Mr Sibal is finding fault with his Cabinet colleagues, they feel.
Another section in the party, however, claims the bill is facing hurdles as it will hamper the interests of the education mafia and other vested interests. “MPs have every right to raise objections to any bill, it will not be seen as a violation of party discipline,” they said, adding that Mr Sibal did not gauge the sense of the House.
Meanwhile, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal also sought to defend Mr Keshav Rao for speaking against the Education Tribunal Bill, saying the essence of democracy is that MPs can express their views.
“The essence of democracy is that MPs express their views... The same member (Keshav Rao) said he was not opposing the bill,” the minister said, dismissing a question on whether it was embarrassing for the party and the government as the bill had to be deferred after Mr Keshav Rao set the tone against the proposed legislation.
Mr Bansal said that when he was an MP he spoke freely on issues, but when it came to voting he followed party directives. “We have a bicameral Parliament. If one bill is passed by the Lok Sabha, members could have a different view in the Rajya Sabha,” he said when asked whether it was a setback as the Education Tribunal Bill had to be deferred.
He also dismissed charges that the Congress was a divided house as members spoke in different voices on issues like the Education Tribunal Bill and the alleged misuse of SC/ST funds by the Delhi government. “Congress is not a divided House,” he said.