Brinda vs Sushma as Uttaranchal gets a name change

New Delhi, Dec 7: The Rajya Sabha today witnessed a clash between two prominent women leaders Brinda Karat of the CPI(M) and BJP's Sushma Swaraj even as it passed the bill changing the name of Uttaranchal state to Uttarakhand.

The Uttaranchal (Alternation of Name) Bill, 2006 already passed by the Lok Sabha was passed by voice vote even as the Opposition BJP charged the Congress of doing votebank politics by changing the name of the state just before the state assembly elections due in February next year while the Samajwadi Party demanded that the Haridwar and Rudrapur districts be taken away from Uttaranchal and included in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the house witnessed heated exchange between Ms Karat and Ms Swaraj with the former saying that the BJP leader will make a record of going to all the states to get elected while the latter termed the CPI(M) leader ''confused,'' and said that she has not checked the records.

The friction erupted on the issue of who first brought the resolution for constituting Uttaranchal before Parliament. Mr Jaiprakash Agarwal of the Congress claimed that he had brought a private members resolution first in the Lok Sabha on the issue.

Ms Swaraj rose to ''put the record straight'' by clarifying that during her tenure in the Rajya Sabha between 1990-96, she had brought a private members resoultion first which was followed by Mr Agarwal later in the Rajya Sabha.

However, when Ms Karat rose to support the resolution, she demanded when Ms Swaraj claims to have brought the bill first why she did not get the state created even when her party was in power. On this, the BJP leader rose to clarify that she had brought the Bill in the Rajya Sabha when she was an MP from Haryana and her party was in the opposition and it was the NDA government which created the states of Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

She said Ms Karat was new in the Rajya Sabha and very confused so she should first go and verify the facts before making any statement. On this Ms Karat said Ms Swaraj can go to any state to get elected. The BJP leader retorted saying she was proud of the fact of having being elected from so many states.

Many other BJP MPs also rose in support of Ms Swaraj's statement.

Some Congress leaders supported Ms Karat and the heated exchanges began. Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan tried to pacify the two agitated women leaders by pointing out that the issue was ''Uttaranchal vs Uttarakhand and not Brinda vs Sushma.'' He urged them to concentrate on the bill and not personalities.

Undettered by the BJP members' agitation, Ms Karat said the BJP was opposing the name change although people of Uttaranchal wanted it. She also accused the party of changing the name of Gujarat's capital Ahmedabad to ''Amadabad'' as it had problems with the name ''Ahmad.'' Enjoying the clash between two women Parliamentarians, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said, ''Why Sushmaji feels jealous whenever any other woman leader speaks.'' Ms Swaraj said she was not jealous but just clarifying the facts.

Ms Karat, however, agreed with BJP leader Ravi Shanker Prasad's charge that the timing of passing the bill indicated that the Congress was trying to get political benefit of the name change. Regarding BJP's criticism that the CPI(M) had opposed creation of Uttaranchal, a defensive Ms Brinda said her party did not believe that developmental issues could be sorted out through bifurcation of states.

Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said the name of the state was being changed in view of peoples sentiments in the State. He said once the resolution for name change was passed by the State Assembly and sent to the Centre, the Union Government has no option but to bring a Bill before Parliament so there was not any politics invovled.

On Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad's query about cost of the ''unnecessary name change,'' Mr Jaiswal clarified that it would be borne by the State Government and the Assembly while passing the resolution must have reflected on the issue of how to cope with the cost involved without getting any additional funds.

About Mr Kalraj Mishra's assertion that Uttaranchal's name was given to reflect that the new state comprises of both Kumaon and Garhwal and not only single part or Khand, the Minister said since agitations for statehood was held in the name of Uttarakhand, the people of the state want the name change.

Responding to Samajwadi Party leader Banwarilal Kanchal's demand that Rudrapur and Haridwar be taken away from Uttaranchal and included in UP, Mr Jaiswal said the question was irrelevant in the present context as the Constitution does not allow it. Any such proposal for changing the boundaries has to be passed by the assemblies of both UP and Uttaranchal and then only Parliament could legislate on it, he clarified.

The SP leader had criticised the Uttaranchal government of not doing much for development of the educational and health facilities in the state while Congress leader Jaiprakash Agarwal hailed the state government for all round development.

Mr Kalraj Mishra of the BJP opposed the Bill saying that it was against the peoples wishes and there was no need for the name change just for political purpose when the people had accepted the name Uttaranchal that represented both Kumaon and Garhwal.

Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who was the lone member from Uttranchal present in the house charged the NDA government of only giving Rs 900 crore annually to the State despite it having special status and said that the UPA government was spending Rs 4000 crore per year in the state and working for development of health, education and industry. On this, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad pointed out that the state goverment was under Rs 19000 crore debt.

Supporting the Bill, Mr Ramdeo Singh Bhandari of the RJD said it was being done in view of the sentiments of people.

UNI