NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party continued disrupting the proceedings in Parliament, on Dec.14, protesting against the arrests of its leaders.

While in the Lok Sabha, the BJP members forced an adjournment of the House just four minutes after ft. met, in the Rajya Sabha, they Stayed out in the well of the House during question hour, shouting slogans, As soon as the Lok Sabha met, the BJP members stormed the well of the House raising slogans demanding withdrawal of the “false cases” instituted against their leaders. Speaker Shivraj Patil adjoumed the House till 12 noon.

In the Rajya Sabha, they trooped into the well demanding that a statement should be made by the government on the arrest of their leaders a5 was done in the Lok Sabha on Monday. They remained m the well during the entire question hour after which they staged a walkout. Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah allowed the members to put thir Questions which the ministers answered but nothing could be heard in the din, created by the slogan shouting BJP members.

BJP leader and leader of the Opposition Sikader Bakht said that his party would not cooperate with a government which could not fulfill its promises.

Dubbing the government as 3 “criminal and bulldozer” government, he demanded that a statement be made in the House as in the Lok Sabha. When the government refused to give in to the party’s demand, Bakhi ted his members out of the House.

After the BJP members left the House, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Abrar Ahmedsaid that the government had already told the Rajya Sabha that the BJP leaders could come out of detention after following the due procedure of law. “Let them not think that they are above the law,” he remarked. The BJPmembers’ behavior came in for attack from al! Sections of the House. Ashok Mitra (CPIM) appealed to the chair to give the members another opportunity to ask their questions listed for the day as they could not hear anything, “We cannot compare with them in lung power,” he said, referring to the slogan shouting by the BJP members.

Renuka Chaudhary said that there was a deep sense of resentment among the members as they could not participate in the question hour. Twenty questions tad been listed for the day and the nation had lost Rs 20 lakh of public money. “I don’t know that the BJP’s motives are. If they want to make a monkey of themselves, | can’t help it,” she said, suggesting that the chair call 2 meeting of representatives of all political parties in her chanibers to see how the recurrence of the stalling of proceedings could be prevented.

Mean white, leaders of all political parties appealed to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Shivraj Patil, 10 find ways out of the current impasse in the House following the arrest of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 24, 1993