The Lok Sabha today witnessed unprecedented unruly behaviour when MPs from rival parties in Bihar, RJD and JD(U), almost came to fisticuffs. MPs from both parties accused and abused each other on the floor of the House after the Speaker adjourned proceedings for the third time since morning. JD(U)’s Prabhunath Singh even handed the Speaker his resignation but it was rejected. It all started when Prabhunath Singh alleged that one of the miscreants in a rape case in Arrah in Bihar claimed to be RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s relative. At this, RJD MPs protested and Lalu Yadav too joined in, saying the accused was Singh’s “brother-in-law”. Singh’s comments were expunged and the House adjourned for an hour till 2 pm but that did not stop the members. Lalu Yadav got up and began abusing Singh. At this, BJP members too stood up. It was then that RJD’s Sadhu Yadav, Lalu’s brother-in-law, rushed from his seat towards Singh, as if to punch him. He came to the well but was blocked by BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Prabhunath too was aiming at Sadhu. He was held back by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi who threw himself between the two. Meanwhile, RJD’s Rabinder Kumar Rana got into an argument with BJP’s M A Kharbela Swain. An agitated Rana threw a sound box lying on the parliamentary reporters’ table at Swain, missing him by a few inches. Lok Sabha secretary P D T Achary asked marshals to enter the well of the House and prevent scuffles. It took Dasmunsi’s skills to get some order restored after which he spoke to BJP’s V K Malhotra and Lalu Yadav. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee condemned the incident, asking members to join him to express annoyance and sorrow.Incidentally, Sadhu Yadav, who played an active part today, has been evading arrest for over a month in an assault case, lodged in native Gopalgunj. Gopalgunj’s sessions judge today rejected Sadhu’s anticipatory bail plea and the Bihar Police, which failed to arrest him despite a non-bailable arrest warrant in July, sent a team to Delhi to arrest him. The case relates to the attack on Dinesh Shah, a candidate in the block development committee polls in Gopalgunj on June 29. The MP was charged with assaulting Shah after he refused to withdraw his candidature in favour of Kunti Devi, wife of Laloo Yadav’s brother Gulab Rai. The FIR was lodged by a block development officer, acting as the executive magistrate for the polls. A Gopalgunj court rejected Yadav’s anticipatory bail petition and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him on July 4. When contacted, Gopalgunj SP Rakesh Rathi said that he faxed the arrest warrant to Delhi Police Commissioner on August 8 with the request to arrest the accused if he tried to attend Lok Sabha. “After the incident, the MP had been missing from Bihar. We suspected that he might try to attend Lok Sabha and, therefore, I faxed the arrest warrant to Delhi Police,’’ said Rathi.After Sadhu was shown in the House on TV today, Bihar Police officers began blaming their Delhi counterparts. “It is now the responsibility of the Delhi Police to arrest the MP,’’ said a senior police officer.
