Opposition disrupts Parliament

Terror attacks in Varanasi rocked Parliament today as the BJP and Shiv Sena members forced adjournment of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for the day.

As soon as the two Houses met today, the BJP and Shiv Sena members disrupted the proceedings shouting slogans . Both Houses were adjourned minutes after they met.

As they re-assembled at noon, the Opposition members were unrelenting and forced their adjournment for the day. Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who had tabled a statement in the Rajya Sabha, made a statement in the Lok Sabha despite the din caused by Opposition members.

Attributing such acts of terror to "some desperate anti-national elements", he assured that the government remained firmly committed to combating terrorism.

Patil, who along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi had visited Varanasi late last night, said the temple was targeted to cause communal tension in the country.

Condemning the incident as a "senseless acts of violence", Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee affirmed the country's strong resolve to maintain peace and tranquillity, and together fight terrorism and violence.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told reporters that Sonia Gandhi's visit to Varanasi was meant to take stock of the situation and appeal to people to maintain peace. "It was to help the UP administration and not to get any political mileage," he said.

Later in the day, the Congress accused the UP administration of "slackness" that led to the incident. It said the Union home ministry had already alerted the state administration about the possibility of terrorist acts.

Party spokesperson Rajiv Shukla accused the BJP of playing votebank politics. Referring to the planned rath yatra by BJP leaders, he said they were actually "dangaa yatra" (march of riots).

"Today they are talking about not celebrating Holi. But, what about the attack on Akshardham temple or Raghunath temple or on Parliament. Had they played Holi then or not?" he said.

Terming the attack as a "heinous crime", the CPI said in a statement that the political parties must refrain from politicising the incident, which may lead to communal polarisation of the people in UP and elsewhere. The statement said the timing of the terror act was aimed at moving attention from vital issues concerning the people.

CPI (M) Central Committee said in a statement that it was "unfortunate" that the BJP was resorting to "low politics" by attributing the terrorist outrage to so-called minority appeasement by the government and the secular parties.