The Hindu : BSP MPs force LS adjournment

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2003

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National

BSP MPs force LS adjournment

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 29. The simmering tension between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its coalition partner in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party, came to the fore in the Lok Sabha today. Demanding the resignation of the Tourism Minister, Jagmohan, for allegedly misleading Parliament over the Taj corridor issue, the slogan-shouting BSP members forced the adjournment of the House for the day.

Trouble started during question hour when the leader of the BSP in the House, Rashid Alvi, moved an adjournment motion and demanded that the Minister immediately put in his papers.

As the treasury benches watched in embarrassment, the BSP MPs trooped into the well of the House raising slogans against Mr. Jagmohan while the Speaker, Manohar Joshi, tried to dissuade them. "We can get the Minister to make a statement, there is no need for you to act in this manner," he said.

The BJP spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, also sought to pacify the BSP members. He walked up to Mr. Alvi and conversed with him for a long time but little came out if it. The Speaker soon adjourned the House for half an hour.

When the House reassembled, the Speaker tried to resume the business by going ahead with question hour, even in the midst of the sloganeering by the BSP members.

With little being heard in the pandemonium created by the BSP, Mr. Joshi asked the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to table the statement on the recent attack on the Akhnoor Army camp.

Continuing to plead with the Speaker to accept his amendment motion, Mr. Alvi said that Mr. Jagmohan had all along known about the construction of the corridor, and it was only now that he was trying to pin the blame on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

The Speaker tried to reason with the agitating BSP MPs and at one point he even said that since both the parties were coalition partners in the State they could sort out the issue amicably.

Unable to dissuade the agitating MPs he reprimanded them saying "I condemn your behaviour, this is not the way to raise the issue". But the BSP members remained adamant and Mr. Joshi adjourned the House till 2 p.m. Throughout the slogan-shouting, the Opposition members sat quietly, seemingly intent on allowing the differences between the BJP and the BSP to play out.

The scene continued after the House reassembled for the third time. The Speaker made yet another attempt to get things going by asking the other MPs to make their submissions but nothing could be heard in the din.

Mr. Malhotra got up and declared that there "was no question of sacking Mr. Jagmohan just because some MPs had entered the well of the House", but the BSP members continued shouting forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for the day.

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