PM under opposition fire for silence on Lalgarh rally

Opposition MPs rock Rajya Sabha on Mamata's statement on Azad's killing

PTI | August 10, 2010



Opposition BJP today created uproar in Rajya Sabha over Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee's rally at Lalgarh backed by Maoists and asked why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was silent on the Railway Minister's alleged hobnobbing with Left-wing extremists.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the Prime Minister has on several occasions termed the Maoists as the single greatest threat to internal security.

He said all ministers are expected to follow the government policy as collective responsibility.

"What we find today is that the principle of collective responsibility is being breached and there is a disagreement on the policy of the government," he said, adding that foremost underground Maoist leaders like Kishenji and Manoj Mahato had given a call to make yesterday's rally a success.

Jaitley said Ashish Mahato, who was said to be responsible for the Jnaneshwari Express train tragedy, was present in the rally along with several top underground leaders.

He was frequently interrupted by Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi.

An irked Jaitley said if Trivedi, a Lok Sabha member, was speaking as a minister (MoS for Health), it was all the more worrisome because the policies of the Prime Minister and his government are being negatived by his junior minister.

Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan also reminded Trivedi that as a member of the council of ministers, he should not disrupt Leader of the Opposition.

Noting that the Prime Minister has chosen to keep silent on various issues like Kashmir and Commonwealth Games, the BJP leader said, "Silence, at times, can be a weapon of convenience, but conspiracy of silence cannot be allowed."

The BJP members, who shouted slogans seeking the Prime Minister's response, were joined by the Left members.

Dissatisfied with the response of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the BJP members staged a walk-out.

Chavan said the Opposition parties have made a lot of "insinuations" based on newspaper reports. The government would ascertain the facts and come back to the House.

Earlier, the party did not allow the Question Hour to be taken up forcing Chairman Hamid Ansari to adjourn the House till 12 noon.

When Jaitley said he has given a notice for suspension of Question Hour, he was not allowed to speak further by Congress members.

Ansari repeatedly asked the members to resume their seats so that Jaitley could make a statement but his pleas went unheeded.

"This is very unseemly," Ansari said before adjourning the House till 1200 noon.

Comments

 

Other News

Global Gandhi: How the Mahatma captured the world’s imagination

Gandhi’s Australia, Australia’s Gandhi By Thomas Weber Orient BlackSwan, 348 pages, Rs 1,800  

Urban apathy in Mumbai, Maharashtra sees 49% voting

Polling in the fifth phase of General Elections 2024 which commenced at 7 am on Monday simultaneously across 49 PCs recorded an approximate voter turnout of 57.47% as of 7:45 pm. Voters came out in large numbers braving hot weather in many parts of the states that went for polls on Monday.

Voter turnout: Drop from 2019 reduces further

As the voting percentages dropped drastically in the first couple of phases of the ongoing general elections, observers and analysts spoke of ‘voter apathy’ blamed it on a lack of “wave” this time – apart from the heatwave, that is. The latest figures after the fourth phase, h

GAIL reports annual revenue of Rs.1,30,638 crore

GAIL (INDIA) Limited has reported 75% increase in Profit before Tax (PBT) of Rs.11,555 crore in FY24,  as against Rs 6,584 Cr in FY23. Profit after Tax (PAT) in FY24 stands at Rs. 8,836 Cr as against Rs.5,302 Cr in FY23, a 67 % increase. However, revenue from operations registered a fa

Women move forward, one step at a time

“Women’s rights are not a privilege but a fundamental aspect of human rights.” —Savitribai Phule In India, where almost two-thirds of the population resides in rural areas, women’s empowerment initiatives are extremely critical for intensifying l

Why you should vote

What are the direct tangible benefits that you want from the government coming in power? The manifestos of various parties set a host of agendas which many times falls back in materialising the intended gains. Governance failures, policy lapses, implementation gaps, leadership crisis and cultural blockages

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter