By Our Staff Correspondent NEW DELHI: In a move unparalleled in the history of Indian Parliament, all 106 opposition members of the parliament belonging to 12 opposition parties decided to resign from the house. With this action, Gandhi’s political fortunes seem doomed.

Out of these 106 members, 73 members resigned from the Lok Sabha on June 24 because of the “stubbornness of the government in not quitting in the wake of the report on the irregularities in the $1.4 billion Bofors deal by the Comptroller and Auditor General”

Thirty three other members of the opposition who were not here on Monday are scheduled to follow suit in a day or two bringing the total to 106 in a 544 seat house,

The twelve opposition parties whose members resigned are: Janata Dal, Telgu Desam, Communist Party of India Marxist, Communist Party of India, Bharitya Janata Party, DMK, Assam Gana Parishad, ‘Congress S, Forward Block, Akali Dal, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Peasant and Workers Party.

Gandhi Stunned

The mass resignation began soon after the Lok Sabha “Question Hour” on Monday. The Tel Desum leader Madhav Re was the first to offer’ his resignation soon after speaker Balram Jakhar called the house to order. Then followed the other party leaders and opposition members.

The Prime Minister, who made his first appearance in the house. this session despite of being at the centre of the controversy, sat through the question hour. He appeared stunned as one opposition member after the other walked over to the speaker’s table and handed his resignation to the speaker Balram Jakhar. Gandhi was seen occasionally talking to defense minister K.C. Pant and parliamentary affairs minister HKL Bhagat. He left soon after the question hour.

The speaker announced the acceptance of the resignation of 69 members immediately after the question hour. Later in the day more four more members, Charanjit Singh Atwal (Akal Dal) Ashok Sen (Janata Dal). D.S. Rao (DDP) and Anant Prakash (CPM) also submitted their resignation. The acceptance of their resignations was announced by the Deputy Speaker.

General Strike On August 9

Meanwhile the opposition parties are considering holding a Bharat Bandh on August 9 as a part of their plan to “go back to the people.” Having wrestled the incentive from the ruling party which now has its back against the wall on the issue of corruption, the opposition is eager to maintain the momentum it has generated by the resignation of its MPs. Janata Dal president VP Singh and Telgu Desum leader P. Upindra held consultations with leaders of various parties, including Bharitya Janata Party leaders L.K. Adwani and Atal Bihari Vajpai.

 The BJP has already announced its plan to observe August 9 as gaddi chodo (leave power) day to press for the resignation of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. In a resolution the opposition said, that MPs of the present Lok Sabha has forfeited their right to stay in power. The Lok Sabha members of their parties had decided to resign since the prime minister had not acceded to the legitimate demand for his resignation. The Lok Sabha no longer represented the will of the people, the resolution added.

“This has become a non-representative parliament so we have decided to go back to the people who sent us here”, opposition leader V.P. Singh declared at a press conference. “Never before has the office of the prime minister been brought to such disrepute, as by the present incumbent,” he added.

The MP’s of all twelve parties would continue in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, because it was a continuing institution and “to resist the authoritarian legislation which the ruling group would try to bring about in the name of the Panchayati Raj,” BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpai said.

“The dye has been cast. We have accepted the challenge thrown by the Congress I and it is now up to the government to dissolve the Lok Sabha and seek a fresh mandate, Vajpai said. “What you are witnessing is a unity of the opposition and I hope that unity and solidarity will be further strengthened and we will throw out the incompetent and corrupt government of Rajiv Gandhi.

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 28, 1989