With Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's rally at Lalgarh in West Bengal figuring in Parliament for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, the government said it would come back to the House after ascertaining the facts.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said the government would “ascertain the position” from Ms. Banerjee. “At this point, we cannot say more than this.”
In the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan said one could not rely entirely on newspaper reports, and he would find out the exact details.
There was uproar in both Houses. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned during question hour after the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Treasury Benches clashed on the issue. The BJP members walked out, demanding a statement from the Prime Minister.
In the Lok Sabha, Gopinath Munde of the BJP described as “shameful” Ms. Banerjee's association with Maoists. He sought to know why the Prime Minister was silent on it.
Referring to her statement questioning the death in an encounter of Maoist leader Azad and dubbing it a murder, Mr. Munde wanted the Centre to conduct a CBI probe.
Bansagopal Chowdhury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) accused the Trinamool of being hand in glove with Maoists, and asked the Centre to explain the presence of extremists at the rally.
Trinamool defence
Defending his leader, Sudip Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool said his party was against the “politics of killing and violence.” If Home Minister P. Chidambaram could go to Lalgarh, there was no harm in another Cabinet Minister visiting the area, which was backward and where people battled hunger and poverty. “Mamata Banerjee went there to spread the message of peace and harmony.”
He said: “All political parties including the government should extend support to Ms. Banerjee so that the Maoist problem can be solved.”
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley led the attack on the government. “What we find today is that the principle of collective responsibility is being breached, and there is a disagreement on the policy of the government” towards Maoists. On several occasions, the Prime Minister termed the Maoists the single largest threat to internal security and all Ministers were expected to follow the government policy. “Silence at times can be a weapon of convenience, but conspiracy of silence cannot be allowed,” Mr. Jaitley said, seeking a clarification from the Prime Minister on the role of his Cabinet Minister.
When Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool sought to defend Ms. Banerjee, Mr. Jaitley asked him whether he was speaking on behalf of the government as he was not a member of the House.
