Nandigram stalls Parliament

Parliament today came to a standstill as the NDA and the Left fought over the issue of discussing Nandigram violence in the two Houses.

Repeated attempts by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and the government managers failed to get the Houses going as the Opposition stuck to its demand of a debate on Nandigram.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had to be adjourned after disruptions in the morning.

The political positions taken by the various actors were interesting. While it was the BJP that kept up the pressure on Nandigram, the Congress adopted a "curious bystander" stance "" as described by a general secretary of the party "" through the disturbances.

It refused to bow to the temptation of attacking the Left on the issue, presumably as a quid pro quo for favours elsewhere.