Says railways minister hobnobbing with Naxals
The chief opposition to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today created uproar in Rajya Sabha over Trinamool Congress chief and railways minister Mamata Banerjee's rally at Lalgarh backed by Naxals and asked why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was silent on the Railway Minister's alleged hobnobbing with Left-wing extremists.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley raised the issue during Zero Hour. He said that the Prime Minister, has, on several occasions termed the Naxals as the single largest threat to internal security and that all ministers were 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 Naxalite 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.
Jaitley was interrupted by Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi, irking Jaitley, who then asked if Trivedi, a Lok Sabha member, was speaking as a minister (MoS for Health), and if so, 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."
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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.