NDA, Left clash in LS; House adjourns for the day

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Thursday plunged into turmoil amid repeated clashes between Left and BJP members over former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's letter to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee sharply critical of his conduct.

 As soon as the House met for the day, Left members, agitated over Vajpayee's letter, demanded an apology from him for denigrating the Chair. This was strongly objected to by BJP members.

With the shadow of the Opposition boycott of the Speaker on Tuesday looming large, the Left members accused Vajpayee, who is the NDA Chairman, of "casting aspersions" on the Chair in the letter in which he had spoken of the need for commanding the respect of members and not demanding it.

As the Left members, led by Basudeb Acharia, denounced the day-long boycott by the BJP-led NDA to protest against the Speaker suppressing the voice of the opposition, the BJP members retaliated in full measure.

It was trouble from the word go as the Speaker adjourned the House within minutes after it assembled for the day. His pleas to allow him to conduct the Question Hour fell on deaf ears.

Similar was the case after the House met after half-an-hour and later when it re-assembled at 1 pm.  At that time, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal ordered tabling of the papers listed for the day. As the din continued, he adjourned the House till Friday.