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Her voice 'stifled', Mayawati resigns as RS member

Officials in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said the final decision in the matter rested with the Chairman

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BSP chief Mayawati walks out of the Rajya Sabha in a huff on Tuesday
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In a dramatic turn of events that seems to have set the tone for the Parliament's Monsoon session, BSP chief Mayawati tendered her resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Tuesday.

Officials in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said the final decision in the matter rested with the Chairman.

Mayawati blamed the ruling Benches for stifling her voice by shouting her down and the Chair, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, for restricting her impromptu speech over the issue of violence against Dalits in Shabbirpur village in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, when Kurien directed her to sit down as she had exceeded the three-minute time limit, Mayawati left the House in a huff, saying: "As per rules, there is no three-minute limit for an adjournment motion. Why am I here, if I cannot speak? I'm resigning from the Rajya Sabha."

Her resignation is being seen as a desperate move to regain BSP's core Dalit base, which has seen erosion in the last two elections.

BJP sources, meanwhile, termed Mayawati's resignation a drama to become a martyr before the end of her term in April next year. The Opposition, especially the Congress and the CPI (M), however, threw their weight behind her and staged a walkout, after Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the BJP has a mandate to rule UP and said the BSP chief was trying to score political points instead of speaking for Dalits. Naqvi also demanded that Mayawati apologise to the Chair for being disrespectful and challenging its authority.

Before staging the walkout in solidarity with Mayawati, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, said: "When Mayawati tried to speak, she was told that we (BJP) have got the people's mandate. We did not know that the BJP has the mandate to massacre minorities and Dalits."

"We have moved a notice for farmers, Dalits, and minorities, and the government is gagging us. If the Opposition wants to raise issues regarding the downtrodden, it must be allowed to do so. Does the BJP think it has a mandate to discriminate against minorities and the poor?" Azad asked.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had hoped for a "cooperative" Monsoon session on Monday, Azad said: "If the ruling party allows us to have debates, we will be more than happy to cooperate and help pass important Bills and legislations."

When the House reconvened again, the Treasury Benches challenged the Opposition to debate on any issue of their choice, but paying no heed, the Opposition members trooped into the Well and raised slogans against the government. The Chair then adjourned the proceedings in quick succession, and finally for the day, at five minutes past 3 pm.

Meanwhile, sources in the BSP said Mayawati was serious about rebuilding the party base before the 2019 elections, and might contest the Lok Sabha by-election to make a comeback in the Parliament. For a re-election to the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati will have to depend on the support of Congress and arch-rival Samajwadi Party.

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