Speaker cancels dinner as BJP turns down invite

In an inauspicious start to the new session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who had invited the leaders of all political parties to dinner ahead of the winter session, had to cancel it because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) informed him it would not attend.

The reason was the BJP's "fast" over the arrest of the Shankara-charya because of which BJP leaders were not eating, party spokesman VK Malhotra said.

Originally, the BJP had started its fast for the release of the pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetem. Now, with the high court concurring with the verdict of the lower court that it was necessary to have the Shankar-acharya in the police custody, there is a question mark over his early release. How long the BJP is going to fast as a protest against his arrest is now a moot question.

"I spoke to the Speaker and conveyed him our regrets as all of us are observing 24-hour "upvas" (fast) on the Shanka-racharya issue," he said.

But, the all-party meeting slated for tomorrow to evolve a consensus on ensuring smooth functioning of Parliament in the winter session from December 1 would be held as scheduled, Parliament sources said.

Confirming that the party had earlier agreed to attend the dinner tonight, Malhotra said the decision had to be taken on account of the developments arising out of the pontiff's arrest.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP chief LK Advani, BJP leader in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sushma Swaraj, BJP chief whip SS Ahluwalia and himself were invitees from the BJP, Malhotra said and they were all fasting.

Although there were legitimate reasons for the cancellation of today's dinner, sources in the BJP said if the UPA expected the BJP and the NDA to agitate outside Parliament and in Parliament, help the government pass various pieces of legislation, it was mistaken.

The party would raise issues in an "aggressive and offensive" manner in Parliament. "We want to place our views as the government is doing things which is not to our liking," he said.

After the last session, Advani had said the Opposition's tendency to disturb the House and not let it function, was a disturbing one.

This had lulled the UPA into believing that the BJP "" along with its allies "" would not be as disruptionist in the coming session as it had been in the past. This expectation might be belied.

Trying to do his best, the Speaker has been holding separate meetings with leaders from the Congress, the BJP and other political parties to elicit their views on ensuring smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament. The meeting slated for tomorrow will be presided over by Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi along with senior party leaders had assured Chatterjee of full cooperation at a meeting convened by him.

The meeting is part of the exercise by the Speaker to get all political parties to ensure a smooth Parliament session in the light of the fact that much of the two previous sessions marked disruptions and stormy scenes.