Advani remark triggers SP walkout

NEW DELHI, AUG. 1. Taking strong exception to the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani's remark that frequent disruption of the proceedings in the Lok Sabha on matters related to Uttar Pradesh by members keeping in view the Assembly polls in the State was ``improper'', angry Samajwadi Party members walked out of the House today.

The SP president, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, immediately got up and protested after Mr. Advani, during zero hour, made the comment in response to the Bahujan Samaj Party leader, Ms. Mayawati's statement on the killings of Dalits and those belonging to backward communities in the State.

Mr. Advani as the Home Minister should have avoided such a remark, Mr. Yadav said and denied that the SP was raising the matter for political mileage. Mr. S. Jaiswal of the Congress also strongly protested Mr. Advani's remark.

Mr. Advani said the precedent in the House was that the Government did not respond to matters relating to the law and order in a State but he was always willing to respond when any issue concerning atrocities on Dalits or a minority community was raised. However, raising issues merely because elections were due in Uttar Pradesh and forcing adjournment of the House was not proper, he said amid protests from SP, BSP and Congress members.

Even before the Minister could clarify his remark, Mr. Yadav and his colleagues left the House.

Question hour disrupted

There were also heated exchanges between the Opposition and treasury benches during question hour as the SP sought a discussion on the murder of Phoolan Devi and the BSP wanted the Government to make a statement on the killing of Dalits in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh last week.

The RJD leader, Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, along with Left party members, demanded the resignation of the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, on the UTI fiasco while the SP wanted Mr. Advani's statement on Phoolan Devi's murder. This prompted the BJP and Samata Party members to protest the ``disruption'' of question hour. The Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi, was seen asking members from both sides to take their seats and allow the House to transact listed business.

Amid the uproar, the BSP members trooped into the well shouting slogans against the killings in Muzaffarnagar. The BSP members were later asked by Ms. Mayawati to return to their seats. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, followed suit in restraining the ruling coalition members.

'Intelligence failure'

The Government also came under fire for intelligence ``failure'' and for ``not providing'' adequate security to Phoolan Devi.

Participating in a special discussion on the MP's murder, the Opposition members wanted to know what steps the Government had taken as a follow-up to the recommendations of the N. N. Vohra committee on criminalisation of politics with some of them stressing heightened security for parliamentarians.

Initiating the discussion, Ms. Girija Vyas of the Congress said Phoolan Devi had been talking about increased threats to her life and termed ``incorrect'' the U.P. Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh's statement that her security was not downgraded.

The CPI(M)'s Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, describing her as ``an embodiment of struggle against oppression and social injustice'', said ``the law of the jungle is not in Chambal, but here in Delhi''. The former Prime Minister, Mr. Chandra Shekhar, said her killing had created a sense of insecurity among the common people while Ms. Mayawati said the incident could have been avoided had the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Government provided her adequate security.

- PTI

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