NDA walkout over Tehelka cases

PM's statement on lalu-Paswan rift sought

The National Democratic Allaince (NDA) staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha today over what it termed as a "witch-hunt by the government over the Tehelka issue" and cornered the Treasury benches over the open rift between Cabinet Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan.

While BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha VK Malhotra did not mince any words, terming the filing of cases against former party president Bangaru Laxman and Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitly as a witch-hunt and a state-sponsored vendetta, the real fireworks were reserved when Janata Dal (U) leader Prabhunath Singh raised the matter of Prasad versus Paswan.

It raised the hackles of both the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) members. Prabhunath Singh referred to the allegations of corruption that Lalu Prasad had made against Paswan when the latter was the railway minister, as also, Paswan's charge that the Rabri Devi government in Bihar being involved in cases of corruption and kidnapping. "What I want to know is who is the real thief between the two," said Singh.

Immediately, the Lok Sabha erupted with the RJD and LJP members shouting slogans, condemning Singh. The NDA, on its part, demanded a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the behaviour of his two ministers. This held up the House for nearly 20 minutes.

Earlier in the day, a very confident Home Minister Shivraj Patil fielded a variety of questions on internal security, including Kashmir, the North East and the Naxal threat. He informed the House that the Prime Minister had responded to Assamese writer Indrani Goswami's overtures on behalf of the banned Ulfa for talks.

"We are ready to talk to anyone who abjures violence, if the overture comes from a private individual, then the government will verify the source and the veracity of the information, and act on it," he said.

While National Conference leader Omar Abdullah referred to reports of fake surrenders in the Valley, the Home Minister replied that he would look into the matter.

He, however, charged the NC with taking the Kashmir package of Rs 24,000 crore negatively, terming it a bhik or alms. "The Kashmir package is a legitimate share of the people of Kashmir; it is not alms," he said.

He also defended the government's decision to pursue talks with the outlawed People's War Group (PWG) and other Naxal outfits. He also informed the People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti that the government was open to the Hurriyat leaders travelling to Pakistan if "they applied through due procedure".