No-Confidence Motion

NDA Govt. Betrayed Peoples' Mandate

- Sonia Gandhi

Introduction

I rise to propose this no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government. I do not do so for partisan reasons because the parties are not important, nor are numbers of any consequence.

Sir, this motion is born out of a deep sense of responsibility towards the people of India. It is born out of a real concern for the direction that our country is taking. It is born out of a genuine disquiet over the capricious way in which this government is conducting the business of governance. There is an inherent danger in this kind of arrogant governance. Sir, it is a danger to the basic tenets of our Constitution. A danger to freedom. A danger to justice. A danger to the ideals of our founding fathers.

Sir, I base this no-confidence motion on nine specific failures of this government. The evidence is clear and compelling.

The Failures

First, I charge this government with jeopardizing the country’s defences. Second, I charge this government with weakening national security. I charge this government with willfully wrecking social harmony. I charge this government with subverting the secular character of our educational system. I charge this government with destroying probity in administration and public life. I charge this government with increasing unemployment and with dismantling the public sector. I charge this government with causing untold suffering to our kisans and khet mazdoors. I charge this government with denigrating key institutions of Parliamentary democracy. Finally, I charge this government with blatantly undermining the independence of our foreign policy. Our indictment is comprehensive, just as their failures are complete. Let me deal with these failures one-by-one.

Defence

These are challenging days for our armed forces. Defence must remain our top priority. Yet here is a government that refuses to spend the allocated money desperately required for the modernization of our armed forces. A study of Budget documents reveals that almost Rs. 24,000 crore allocated for defence modernization remains unspent. This inexcusable lapse constitutes about 30% of the budgeted amount.

Here is a government so lethargic that it is willing to risk the lives of our brave jawans, a government so irresponsible that it bargains with the martyrdom of our Kargil heroes.

Then, Sir, let us examine how the government has spent the Rs. 4253 crore it raised last year from the Kargil tax. The Standing Committee on Defence has pointed out that not a single rupee of this amount was spent as it was intended. The taxpayer is ever willing to share the burden of our nation’s security. Is this not a betrayal of that trust and patriotism?

Sir, the CAG report for 2003 is devastating. Perhaps, it is this that led the Prime Minister himself to raise questions on the functioning of the CAG at a conference of accountants general on July 28 where he said and I quote :

You should also consider the overall circumstances in which the executive took a particular decision … An atmosphere in which the auditor is on the offensive and the executive is on the defensive is detrimental to good performance.

What are we to make of this? A CAG report is a CAG report. It cannot be wished or washed away. It has identified a very large number of irregularities in defence purchases, even in the purchase of such basic items like bullet-proof jackets, multi-purpose boots, hand-held thermal imagers, high-powered rifles and ammunition. It has raised serious doubts about the government’s so-called fast track procurement machinery in relation to Operation Vijay. It has also detailed other scandals, for example, substantial losses on defence lands in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

Sir, by the government’s own admission, major fires in ordinance depots have already destroyed ammunition and defence equipment worth more than Rs. 800 crore. As late as 1st June, another ammunition depot caught fire near Jaisalmer. And what of the continuing tragic crashes of MiG aircraft? There is obviously something terribly wrong with our defence.

National Security

Sir, let me now turn to the crucial issue of national security. There was a time not very long ago when the ISI was believed to be behind every incident of terrorism in our country. The Home Minister had promised us a White Paper on ISI Activities in India. Four years later, and we have still heard nothing.

Sir, the country will never forget that shameful spectacle of the then External Affairs Minister Shri Jaswant Singh personally escorting three hard-core terrorists to Kandahar in a special flight? These very terrorists continue to kill innocent men, women and children in our country. They continue to attack our brave jawans and their families.

As for Kargil, I can do no better than quote from the Subrahmanyam Committee and I quote :

The Review Committee had before it overwhelming evidence that the Pakistani armed intrusion in the Kargil sector came as a complete and total surprise to the Indian government, army and intelligence agencies as well as to the J&K state government and its agencies.

Repeated demands for a discussion on a report of such grave importance have fallen on deaf years. The discussion has been prevented with great detriment to our national security. That the lessons of Kargil have not been learnt is evident from the outrage of Hill Kaka in the forest of Suran Kote near Jammu. Not only this, several hundred terrorists had a clear run over a large area for an astonishing length of time. Peheley Aap Ne Khood Sarp Ko Ghusne Diya, Phir Vinaash Ki Sochi.

Sir, Operation Parakram lasted nearly nine months in 2002, involved over 5 lakh troops and entailed an expenditure of around Rs. 8,000 crore. The expenditure is not the issue – the entire nation will winningly bear any burden to ensure national security. What is at issue here is the outcome of this operation. What did it achieve? The Prime Minister owes our country an explanation.

Sir, I now come to the northeast where the NDA is playing with the fire in this most sensitive region of our country. Elections in Nagaland were held under threats to the people. The NDA was fully aware of these threats and did nothing. Why? Because it was a party to them. We want all the Naga underground organisations to join the political process with honour and dignity. But not at the cost of the territorial integrity of other states in the region. In April this year on behalf of the four Congress chief ministers of the northeast, I had written to the Deputy Prime Minister suggesting a plan of action for peace and development in that region. The Deputy Prime Minister replied and assured full support. It is now August. Yet, requests made by our chief ministers for additional forces are still pending.

Sir, efforts to topple democratically elected governments are being made systematically. Arunachal Pradesh is a case in point. I bring to your notice a paper meant purely for private circulation prepared by Captain Hekiya Sema of the Nagaland BJP. This paper is revealing because it practically spells out the sinister game played by the BJP in the region. Sir, I have here a report on this paper from the Hindustan Times of August 6, 2003 and with your permission I quote :

The recent changes in Arunachal politics have been mainly possible because of hectic backdoor support of the BJP leaders.

Need I say anything more.

Sir, I give you another example of the cavalier manner in which this government treats matters which affect our national security. I am referring to the resurgence of Naxalite violence. The spread is frightening – Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There are international ramifications as well. But the government has remained a mute spectator.

Social Harmony

Sir, on social harmony, the Prime Minister has said and clarified what he has said so often that it has become difficult to know what precisely he believes, whether it is Ayodhya or Gujarat. In fact, the only thing that emerges from his pronouncements is that he is a master of double-speak. It is not at all clear whether what he says is a true reflection of his views or a calculated ruse to camouflage the destructive agenda of his brotherhood.

Sir, the Godhra accused should be shown no mercy. But is the Best Bakery case in Gujarat not a prime example of how even canons of law are being twisted to promote communal politics? Is it not the responsibility of the Prime Minister to ensure the basic right to freedom and justice to every citizen, regardless of caste or religion? Who is responsible for allowing the Best Bakery case to be turned into the tragic farce that it had become before the NHRC and the Supreme Court intervened? Are they not human beings, people like you and me, sons and daughters of India? They carry with dignity the burden of their violated lives. Their right to live freely in their nation has been snatched from them. Justice is being stifled and the voices of hate get louder.

I spoke earlier about national security. There can be no let-up in our battle against cross-border terrorism. The entire nation is united on this. The BJP and its affiliates have cynically used cross-border terrorism and our confrontation with Pakistan to polarize our own society for blatant electoral gains and as a result it is the country that bleeds.

Social justice is the other side of social harmony. But this insensitive government is closing all avenues of employment for the weaker sections of society. This is leading to a great sense of unrest and injustice amongst them. I demand to know from the Prime Minister why his government has not brought forward a comprehensive legislation to ensure that all job quotas for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are fulfilled. This was the recommendation made two years ago in the 16th report of the Committee on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Can it also be denied that atrocities on dalits have continued to mount and Central Government has remained a passive bystander? As far as women are concerned it is now more than clear that this government has no intention whatsoever in getting the Women’s Reservation Bill passed. If it had, it could have done so with our support any day. A government that willfully destroys national consensus in every other area suddenly discover the virtues of a consensus on this issue. This is simply a pretext for inaction. All of us women know it – Sushmaji, don’t you agree?

Education

Sir, the future of our country lies in the hearts and minds of the younger generation. Are the efforts to rewrite our school curricula not a defilement of the very essence of our nationhood? Are the BJP’s peculiar and perverted interpretation of our past not an insult to our composite heritage? Obscurantism is being thrust upon us. Heroes of our freedom movement are being denigrated and excluded from textbooks. In their place those with dubious credentials are being celebrated. What is more, standards of intellectual achievements in various institutions of national importance have been lowered. There has been a determined drive to pack such institutions with people owing allegiance to the divisive ideology of the BJP and the RSS. The Central Advisory Board of Education that has played an important role in building a national consensus on education policy has been completely and deliberately by-passed. This is no way to build the India of the 21st century.

Corruption

Let me now turn to corruption. Some months back, when I said that the BJP-led NDA government is monumentally corrupt, I did not realize that my words would be taken literally and we would witness the Taj Corridor scandal. Everybody knew what was going on. There was verily a conspiracy of silence till the expose took place.

I have already spoken about scandals in defence, the most dramatic and visible evidence for which was provided in the Tehelka video tapes. Systematic attempts are being made to derail the enquiry by the Phukan Commission that is now investigating 14 defence deals. By now, the country knows, thanks to the CAG, about how this government permitted corruption even in the purchase of coffins meant for our Kargil martyrs.

Just before the Taj scandal, we had the explosive DDA affair. It revealed the sheer audacity with which deals are fixed and even judicial orders manipulated. The officials apprehended were fully hand-in-glove with their political patrons. Some time back, we had very senior officials of the Finance Ministry being hauled up on grave charges of corruption.

Do I need to remind this House of the ruinous stock market and UTI scams that wrecked the lives of millions of small investors, senior citizens, pensioners and widows? Has a single person been held accountable? Have those responsible not got away scot-free? Has this not happened simply because they enjoy access to those in power?

The handling of the petrol pump allotment scam was perhaps the most farcical. In an attempt to save face, the government issued an Ordinance terminating all dealerships. This resulted in untold misery for numerous allottees belonging to the disadvantaged sections. In August 2002, I wrote to the Prime Minister demanding an impartial high-level enquiry. This letter was ignored. In December 2002, the Supreme Court vindicated our stand and made the Ordinance infructuous.

Do I need to remind the House of the huge land scam involving the Urban Development Ministry which gave away prime plots in the nation’s capital to the RSS, the VHP and its affiliates all at an average price of less than one-tenth of the market rate? Was this the Prime Minister’s attempt at building bridges with those who were sniping at him from within?

Economy

Sir, during the previous Congress government economic growth averaged 6.7% per year. Last year, it came crashing down to just 4.3% or thereabouts. Yet the government merrily announced an 8% growth target for the Tenth Five Year Plan. Do they think there are going to be takers for this version of "Mungeri Lal Ke Sunhere Sapne"?

Sir, can there be any question that the employment scenario is dismal? Upto the mid 1990s, the growth rate of employment generation was 2.7% per year. But during this government’s tenure it has dropped to just 1% per year. I am not manufacturing these numbers. These are statistics contained in the government’s very own annual Economic Survey. The Planning Commission itself estimates that at current trends, unemployment will double in the next five years. At a time when the youth needs voluntary employment schemes, all that the government offers is voluntary retirement schemes. Actually Sir, you do not need figures to get a sense of the unemployment disaster stalking our country. As you travel and meet young men and women, it is abundantly obvious that there are simply no jobs.

Sir, the pubic sector is being systematically dismantled. This is the very public sector that has developed backward regions, that has provided employment to dalits and adivasis and that has made India strong and self-reliant. Land and other assets of public sector companies are being deliberately undervalued. Thus, companies are being sold off for paltry amounts. The public exchequer is losing. Private accounts are bulging. This is not just a case of family silver being sold. It is almost being gifted away at throw-away prices to a handful of favoured individuals. A book entitled "Disinvestment: Policy and Procedures" published by the government’s Department of Disinvestment lists the Government’s primary objectives of disinvestment as follows and I quote :

• To release public resources for redeployment in basic health, family welfare, primary education and social infrastructure;

• To reduce public debt;

• To release manpower for redeployment in high-priority social sectors.

Four years into a high-profile privatization programme, can it be doubted that none of these three objectives have been fulfilled?

The railways are the lifeline of our nation. The manner in which safety standards have been allowed to deteriorate is simply shocking. There have been an unprecedented number of railway accidents in the past three years including in 2003 which was, ironically, designated as Railway Safety Year. What is obvious is that state-level politics has taken precedence over the safety and welfare of millions of passengers.

Rural Development

Sir, rural development programmes have been politicized and fragmented as never before. Even the CAG has dubbed the Swarnajayanti Swarozgar Grameen Yojana to be a failure. In fact, the record of this government in the creation of employment opportunities in rural areas, where 2 out of 3 Indians still live and work, is abysmal.

This govt. announced a National Agriculture Policy in 2000. To this day, this policy has not been discussed in Parliament. The policy lays down a time span of two decades to achieve its objectives. Are crores of kisans, already suffering under the burden of debt, expected to wait 20 years. How insensitive can you get? But does this govt. even care? Why did it take five years for the Prime Minister to announce a National Commission on Kisans just three days back? Incidentally, a similar announcement was made from the same place on the same day five years ago. Agricultural growth fell sharply to just over 2% per year under the BJP-led NDA govt. as against almost 4.7% per year during the previous Congress regime.

Shri Ajit Singh has already quit this government protesting its anti-farmer policies. Now we read that his successor too is worried about liberal imports. He need not worry. Imports have already been freed with disastrous consequences. Liberal imports of edible oil, for example, has destroyed the livelihood of lakhs of oilseed farmers in states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Sugarcane, potato, cotton, coconut, coffee and tea farmers too are facing extreme distress. What is the use of announcing scheme after scheme when their actual impact is nil? There is no better example of this than the agricultural insurance scheme. Urea and potash prices have gone up and so have the prices of tractors and diesel. In fact, during this govt’s tenure farmers are paying much more and earning much less. How can our farmers survive?

Sir, there is total confusion on food security and the PDS. Since 1999/2000, the govt’s own figures reveal a sharp fall in the offtake of rice and wheat from the PDS. Why has this happened? The doubling of food prices even for the poorest of the poor – for the BPL families – and substantial increase of food prices for other consumers of the PDS has caused offtake to decline significantly. When people do not buy and consume, stocks are bound to mount. That we have such huge foodgrain stocks in the midst of deprivation and malnutrition is, at best, a dubious distinction. Sir, the PDS does not reach vulnerable groups like single-women headed families, the disabled and the aged. Yet, the govt’s response has been insensitive and inadequate.

This year, Sir, rains have fortunately been good in many parts of the country. Rajasthan this year has had good rains after four consecutive years of drought. Sir, I have travelled extensively in those areas affected by drought and I say this from my heart. That, it is a national shame to see that while we exported millions of tones of foodgrains crores of our own people were suffering from food shortages. Had the Prime Minister chanced upon these people, had he heard their pleas, and witnessed their plight first-hand, had he seen those undernourished children, and the aged then perhaps he would have been more generous to all drought-affected states, particularly Rajasthan.

Institutional Denigration

Sir, the manner in which this government has sought to undermine the functioning of some of the key institutions of parliamentary democracy – something subtly and sometimes openly – bodes ill for the future f our country. Let me take just four glaring examples.

The Public Accounts Committee is the arbiter of transparency in government dealings. It is the most important committee of Parliament. The Prime Minister is well aware of its workings as he himself served as its chairman in the past. It is the responsibility of the government to facilitate the functioning of the PAC. I ask the Prime Minister, Sir, why is his government impending the functioning of the PAC? What is the reason for its stubborn refusal to give the PAC access to CVC report that has examined some transactions relating to Operation Vijay.

Secondly, Sir I bring before you the blatant politicization of the CBI on the Ayodhya issue and the demolition case. It is a matter of shame that the conspiracy charges against the prime accused which include two senior ministers of this government were dropped. I ask the head of this government what signal is he sending to the people of India? Are those in high office above the law?

The Election Commission has done Indian democracy proud. Despite this, it has been subject to personal ridicule and abuse by sections of the ruling establishment. Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission has come under assault for acting fairly in the public interest and for taking up the cause of families brutalized by the communal carnage in Gujarat last year.

Foreign Policy

Sir, a nation’s foreign policy is a reflection of its national character. India was freed by the determination of her people to follow the path of truth and non-violence. It was this single quality that distinguished its national character from the rest of the world. It was this quality that gave it moral stature. Sadly, Sir, this government has strayed from this path.

The national consensus that has underpinned India’s foreign policy for almost five decades has been willfully eroded in the past five years. India’s foreign policy is no longer independent. No longer are we willing to stake out a moral position in keeping with our history and our destiny. No longer are we willing to stand up for principles, for values. Of course, the world changes and India’s foreign policy, like any other policy, cannot remain frozen in time. But the changes we make must be in the national interest. Had the Opposition and particularly the Congress not raised its voice forcefully and mobilized public opinion, this government would have dispatched troops to Iraq without an explicit UN mandate.

Sir, the Prime Minister went to Lahore. His hosts were preparing for Kargil while he was there. Did we not know this? Sir, the Prime Minister went to Beijing. While he was there, there was an intrusion of Chinese troops into Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

We have extended our broad support to the government in its policy in regard to both Pakistan and China. But Sir, I am forced to say that this policy has lacked clarity and continuity. The stance of the government has swung from one extreme to another. It has claimed credit for non-existent achievements. It has belittled what has been achieved by previous governments.

It had all but forgotten the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and had to be reminded of its enduring value by, of all people, the Leader of Opposition of Pakistan. May I proudly remind this august house, Sir, that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made a truly historic visit to China in December 1988, all references to which are being carefully avoided.

Do we need to remind today’s Prime Minister of how he used to confront his predecessor in the late 1950s and early 1960s on good relations with China? In fact, Sir, let me refresh his memory; the very Panchsheel his government is now preparing to celebrate was oft ridiculed by the Prime Minister in the past.

Sir, this govt. has completely ignored our immediate region, both politically and in economics. Never before has SAARC been devalued as it has in the past five years. This government has claimed that there has been a paradigm shift in our bilateral ties with the USA. If indeed there has been such a shift, then no benefits seem to have accrued to us. For the first time NATO forces are in our region in Afghanistan. This is of profound significance. I would like to know from the Prime Minister what the response of his govt. is to this unprecedented development.

Conclusion

Sir, I stand before you today to protect the Constitutional prerogative of the Opposition. Even if the govt. does not feel itself answerable to the nation, we do not abdicate our responsibilities.

We will speak our minds. We will make sure that our voices are heard loud and clear. This is not only our legitimate right but it is also our duty towards the people we represent.

We have had to content with a most belligerent government, a government that insists on having its way without giving us an opportunity to have our say, a government that refuses to allow a discussion on vital issues that it finds uncomfortable. We are confronting a government whose sole objective is to steamroll its way through the House in a most brazen manner.

We have been at all times conscious of our duty throughout these years in the Opposition. We have been acutely aware of our responsibility. I might add that in comparison with the BJP when it occupied our benches we have exercised great restraint. The Congress party’s support to the government on the passing of legislation has been unprecedented. Our record, and I am proud of it, has been that of a constructive Opposition.

Sir, this BJP-led NDA government has shown itself to be incompetent, insensitive, irresponsible and brazenly corrupt. It is a government that has betrayed the mandate of the people. It is a government that has forfeited the trust of the people. It is a government that does not work for the good of all the people. This government’s days are numbered. Sir, I commend this no-confidence motion to the House.

(Text of the speech of the Leader of the opposition, Smt. Sonia Gandhi made while introducing the No-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA Govt. in Lok Sabha on 18th Aug, 2003.)