Members of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP targeted each other in Parliament on Monday leading to clashes and walkouts.
The Trinamool MPs staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did not accept their demand for suspension of Question Hour. The MPs, carrying red diaries with “Sahara” written on it, earlier stormed into the well of the House and raised slogans. They want to know a name that had come up during a CBI probe against the Sahara group.
In the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool member Derek O’Brien sought to raise the issue during Zero Hour and Question Hour, but was not allowed. As he rose to raise the matter, the BJP members attempted to shout him down by raising the Saradha scam.
Clash over Saradha, Sahara
With the Trinamool Congress demanding in the Lok Sabha on Monday that a name that had come up during a CBI investigation against the Sahara group be revealed, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said rules did not permit any member naming anyone who was not a member of the House.
Some members referred to a top BJP functionary while raising protests, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give details of the action taken by the CBI after the name allegedly figured in the diary.
The war of words between the BJP and the Trinamool escalated after Kirit Somaiya of the former raised the Saradha chit fund scam, and alleged that the West Bengal government was not cooperating with the CBI in the case.
His remarks drew sharp protests from the Trinamool members, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for lunch.
In the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool member Derek O’Brien sought to raise the issue during Zero Hour and Question Hour, but was not allowed. As he rose to raise the matter, the BJP members attempted to shout him down by raising the Saradha scam. The Trinamool members later staged a walkout.
Reacting to the charges outside Parliament, the BJP said the Trinamool was rattled by the success of its recent rally in Kolkata. “The Trinamool is frustrated, perturbed and disturbed and is making false and baseless allegations,” the party’s national secretary, Shrikant Sharma, said.
Earlier, referring to the red diaries, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said, “If the TMC is coming close to red (Left parties), we have no problem.”
“If the party has something substantial it should come out with it instead of making baseless allegations against the BJP president.”
