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Journalism of Courage
The bitterness witnessed in Parliament almost from the beginning of the 14th Lok Sabha reached a new low today with the NDA threatening to boycott all parliamentary committees in protest against the Government’s ‘‘confrontationist attitude’’, the Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee condemning the Opposition for denigrating Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, and the Speaker himself holding a press conference expressing his ‘‘agony’’.
Although today was the last day of Parliament before a three-week break, it offered no end to the tensions between the Opposition and treasury benches, which began last month over the ‘‘tainted ministers’’ issue and received a fresh fillip from the Shibu Soren case.
The NDA will march to Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 25 to demand the dismissal of Soren and removal of other ‘‘tainted ministers’’ from the Cabinet, and will consider the option of boycotting all parliamentary committees, Leader of Opposition L.K.Advani declared later.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met this morning, Opposition MPs reiterated their demand for a statement from PM Manmohan Singh on the ‘‘absconding minister’’. At this point, the Speaker read out an appeal for peace. But the Opposition was in no mood to listen, and BJP leader V.K. Malhotra demanded that Advani be allowed to speak instead. Some members also heckled the Speaker and asked him not to give sermons. The House was soon adjourned for an hour.
When it met again, Pranab Mukherjee made a statement condemning the Opposition’s behaviour towards the Speaker. The House was adjourned again.
Later, all sides vented their ire in press conferences. While Advani condemned Mukherjee’s statement, Chatterjee made his anguish clear. Referring to the charges of partisanship against him, he said: ‘‘What is painful to me is motives are being attributed to me.’’ Then, referring to the epithet levelled against him by Mamata Banerjee, he said: ‘‘I am not ashamed if I am a Stalinist.’’ Asked if he would quit, he said: ‘‘I am not resigning; I am not a shirker.’’
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HC defers Soren’s plea till Monday
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RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday deferred till Monday hearing on a petition by Coal Minister Shibu Soren challenging the non-bailable arrest warrant against him in the Chirrudih massacre case. |
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