The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has accused the United Progressive Alliance government of “subterfuge and sabotage” in not allowing voting on Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, on Monday said the Trinamool Congress was part of the “orchestration” that helped the government.
“They (Trinamool) have been running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. They should have opposed it in the Union Cabinet of which they are a part. They should have opposed it in the Lok Sabha. Not having done that, they connived with others to ensure that the Bill is sabotaged,” senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said in New Delhi.
What happened in the Rajya Sabha, where the crucial legislation could not be passed and the House adjourned on the midnight of January 29-30, “was to help the government not to pass the Bill,” Mr. Yechury said, adding that “chaos” were created in an “orchestrated” manner to stall its passage.
“The UPA government is squarely responsible for this and Trinamool was part of this orchestration. It is most unfortunate that this sort of subterfuge and sabotage has been carried out when the people are looking up to Parliament “for an effective anti-graft Bill”, he said.
Asked about Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee rapping her party’s MPs in Lok Sabha, Mr. Yechury asked, “Why didn’t she scold them first when the Cabinet met on the issue? She has a Minister in the Cabinet. ... They seemed to have suddenly remembered all these issues in Rajya Sabha.”
