Not more than 30-40 BJP members were present in the post-lunch session though the party had stalled the House demanding a discussion on Nandigram.
NEW DELHI: After paralysing the Lok Sabha for two days over Nandigram killings, the lower House on Wednesday debated the issue roughly for seven hours but in the end it was unclear what the parliamentarians wanted to achieve by the lacklustre debate apart from scoring political points.
Though there was the usual acrimony between the CPI(M) members and the BJP, after the lunch recess the attendance was not even 10%. Not more than 30-40 BJP members were present in the post-lunch session though the party had stalled the House demanding a discussion on Nandigram.
Over 20 members took part in the debate which lacked bite and was replied by home minister Shivraj Patil without offering any concrete steps to remedy the situation, cautious not to hurt the feelings of the comrades.
CPI(M) allies RSP and Forward Bloc were also mild on the Marxists. The Congress adopted an ambiguous stand. While two of its ministers —Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and Patil — did not mount any attack on the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal for the violence in Nandigram, two of other members in the House attacked the comrades.
Blasting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s remarks that CPI(M) cadre was forced to recapture Nandigram, Congress member Madhusudan Mistry said “it was what RSS did in Gujarat, the BJP did not criticise the cadre.
Is your cadre bigger than the state?” Mistry asked the CPI(M). Don’t blame the Congress for your failure, what was your state intelligence doing all these months?” he asked.
In its daily briefing, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan also criticised the West Bengal government for the flare-up. “The Prime Minister already expressed concern, it is the duty of the state government to bring the situation under control.
To put blame on the Congress is not just escapism but an attempt to divert attention from the acts of omission and commission. I think the state government should take the responsibility to what happened, it is the primary duty of the government,” she said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}