Nothing against Paswan, says Lalu

Zero hour in the Lok Sabha saw the NDA and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) engage in a pitched noisy scene over the "impropriety of the spat between Cabinet ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan."

The first shot was fired by the Janata Dal (United) member Prabhunath Singh who continued his statement from yesterday, asking the Prime Minister for an explanation as to why one of his Cabinet minister's (Prasad) was threatening a CBI enquiry against another (Paswan) in a multi crore scandal.

With the entire Opposition up on their feet shouting for a statement from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue, the Speaker asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, whether this would be possible.

Lalu Prasad who was in Parliament at that time stood up to clarify his position on the issue. "I have not said any of the things the opposition is accusing me of against my colleague," he said.

His statement, rather than pacifying the opposition, made them even more angry as they shouted that they had TV footage in which Prasad had made accusations against Paswan. After this the RJD MPs raised a personal matter connected to the BJP President L K Advani.

The House witnesses shouting and noisy scenes for at least twenty minutes before the NDA staged a walkout.

A little while later, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta raised the issue of the death of Brazilian footballer Cristiano Junior at a football match in Bangalore.

Junior, who played for Dempo football club in Goa, died of a heart attack during a match with East Bengal team. Dasgupta accused the football federation of being negligent saying that the medical facilities at the stadium were not adequate.

He accused the head of the federation "who is a minister in the present government" referring to water resources minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, of negligence. P C Thomas also seconded the concern.