Kashyap row: Speaker writes to Advani

In spite of Speaker Somnath Chatterjee8217;s refusal to accept the resignation of four BJP MPs in the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha in the wake of the report that led to former LS Secretary General Subhas C Kashyap being admonished by the House, the issue seems far from dying down.

In spite of Speaker Somnath Chatterjee8217;s refusal to accept the resignation of four BJP MPs in the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha in the wake of the report that led to former LS Secretary General Subhas C Kashyap being admonished by the House, the issue seems far from dying down. The action was taken against Kashyap for passing derogatory remarks against the Speaker in a TV interview.

To stem the unprecedented revolt by the BJP members, sources said, Chatterjee has written to the Leader of Opposition, LK Advani, requesting him to convince party members 8216;8216;not to press him the Speaker to accept their resignation8217;8217;.

The Speaker8217;s office today confirmed that 8216;8216;the resignations of the four BJP MPs have not been accepted8217;8217;. Advani is yet to respond to the Speaker8217;s letter. 8216;8216;Yes, we have received the Speaker8217;s letter, but the party has not taken the final decision on the matter,8217;8217; said BJP leader VK Malhotra.

The BJP has threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker in the Monsoon Session, unless the Privileges Committee report is reviewed.

The Speaker, while saying that the opposition had the right to bring in a no-confidence motion, made it clear that the parliamentary rules did not permit the review of a Parliamentary Committee report tabled and adopted by the House.

The Kashyap issue has been simmering since the last day of the post-recess Budget session when the House adopted the Privilege Committee report amidst an uproar by the BJP members in the opposition benches.

Four BJP members, including Kishen Kumar Sangwan who was one of the signatories to the report tabled in the House, resigned from the Committee chaired by V Kishore Chandra S Deo of Congress after the BJP decided to oppose the report condemning Kashyap8217;s comment and recommending he 8216;8216;may be admonished8217;8217;.

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The other BJP members in the Committee are: Ananthkumar Hegde, Rajendrasinh Rana and Virendra Kumar.

The matter may take an ugly turn if the BJP decides to boycott the Speaker in the same manner that the former Congress-led opposition had boycotted NDA8217;s Defence Minister George Fernandes in Parliament.

santwana.bhattacharyaexpressindia.com