Protestors find no support in Parliament

All parties expressed their support to reservations.

NEW DELHI: Cutting across party lines, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday saw near unanimity on the OBC reservation issue even as Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had a tough time controlling members who created a ruckus demanding time to speak on the subject. Chatterjee lost his temper repeatedly and was seen admonishing members who refused to heed to him.

The BJP, which tried to put the government on the mat for maltreating the students, also backed reservations. Initially, when the BJP appeared a bit ambiguous, RJD chief and railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav got up and asked, "Are you in favour of reservation or not?" BJP chief whip Santosh Gangwar said his party was not against it.

Trying to drive a wedge between Arjun Singh and Kapil Sibal, BJP member VK Malhotra wanted to know "is it true when you (Arjun Singh) made such a statement, Kapil Sibal in Germany spoke against you?"

The Minister said the main reason for the delay in implementing the Constitutional Amendment providing OBC quota was due to the assembly elections in five states which had brought the model code of conduct into force.