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Lok Sabha rejects censure motion

In the division pressed by the Opposition, 276 members voted against the motion while 182 voted for it.

The five-member National Conference, a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, and the 11-member All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam abstained from voting.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's new-found ally, the Bahujan Samaj Party, voted against the motion.

Earlier, the 28-member Telugu Desam Party walked out of the House protesting against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's intervention in the debate which, it said, did not cover any of the demands raised by the party.

TDP leader K Yerran Naidu said his party had made four demands, of which Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's removal was the foremost.

The House also rejected by voice vote the amendments to the motion moved by G M Banatwala (Indian Union Muslim League), Rupchand Pal (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and Priyaranjan Dasmunshi (Congress). The amendments would have put the onus of the riots on the Centre and Gujarat government.

Replying to the debate, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav reiterated the demand for Modi's ouster and imposition of President's rule in the state saying that the violence in Gujarat had put the entire country to shame.

Yadav said Defence Minister George Fernandes, who had been a part of the socialist movement, should have demanded Modi's resignation.

He accused the chief minister of adding fuel to the fire through provocative statements.

Referring to the prime minister's remarks about the media, he said it was a "double-edged sword" and accused the local media of playing a partisan role by exaggerating one side of the picture.

PTI

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