AMRITSAR: The Akal Dal (M) has decided to abstain from taking sides at the crucial voting in the Lok Sabha when Prime Minister Y.P. Singh seeks a vote of confidence on Wednesday. A party spokesman said that fresh election should be held ‘to the Lok Sabha: It may be recalled that the Akali Dal (Badal) declared two days ago that it would support Chander Shekhar as Prime Minister.
A piquant situation was created when the Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray declared 30 members of Janata Dal including Mr Chander Shekhar as “unattached” in terms of the Indian ant defection law.
Taking advantage of the declaration. Prime Minister V.P. Singh met President R. Venkataraman to request him not to invite Shekhar or any other “unattached member” because they had no mandate from the public to form any government. But Chander Shekhar later declared that there was no such legal bar on the “unattached” members.
The official Janata Dal also expressed the view that the effective strength of the party now was 110 and since the dissidents were less than one third in strength, they could not vote against V.P. Singh without attracting the ant defection law. Singh is seeking a vote of confidence from Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Congress (I) Parliamentary Board is meeting soon to finalize modalities of cooperation with the Chander Shekhar group.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 9, 1990
