New Delhi: BJP will vociferously protest in Parliament tomorrow against the Prime Minister not taking questions on his remarks in the Rajya Sabha on the missing coal files and the Lok Sabha Speaker not allowing the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj to speak on the issue.
Both the Houses may see disruption of business with the main opposition deciding to take on the government on Manmohan Singh's statement on the missing files relating to coal block allocations, which left BJP dissatisfied.
BJP was furious that Speaker Meira Kumar did not allow Swaraj to speak after Singh made his statement. Even BJP Parliamentary Party Chairperson L K Advani, who raised his hand seeking permission to speak, was ignored by the Chair.
“All norms were broken in the Lok Sabha. The Leader of the Opposition was insulted when she was not permitted to speak. Her mike was muted. Even Advani, who rarely raises his hand to speak, was not allowed. Have you heard of any Parliament in the world where the Leader of the Opposition is not allowed to speak”? BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
He claimed that when NDA was in power former Prime Ministers and senior leaders from the opposition benches were always allowed to raise issues. But Advani, a former Deputy Prime Minister, was not given permission by the Chair today.
BJP boycotted a meeting of political parties called by the Speaker later to resolve the issue.
Similarly, in the Rajya Sabha, where Singh made the statement first, BJP was left seething when the PM did not wait for the opposition to pose questions to him as is the norm.
BJP sources said though it will allow passage of the Land Acquisition Bill in the Rajya Sabha as the legislation is “pro-farmer”, the fate of other Bills is uncertain in both Houses.
