The Trinamool Congress on Monday disrupted Parliament alleging political vendetta in West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra’s arrest in the Saradha scam, prompting the government to state in the Rajya Sabha that the CBI was acting independently and that it had no role in it.
After exchange of words with the BJP, TMC members staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha on the issue.
“There is no question of government or any political leader interfering. The case is being monitored by the Supreme Court. The CBI acts independently in the case and reports to the Supreme Court. The government has nothing to do in the matter,” Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha in response to the TMC protest.
Raising the matter, Derek O’Brien (TMC) said the CBI was being used for political vendetta. Without naming anyone, he alleged that the president of a political party was “writing the script for the CBI.”
Similar scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha where the TMC and BJP members clashed after the former’s MPs rushed into the well of the House raising slogans against the government.
Recalling that when the BJP was in the Opposition, it had named the CBI as the ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation,’ the TMC accused the BJP president of instigating the agency against its leaders. The CBI should no longer remain under the Prime Minister’s control and its operational control should be handed over to the Lokpal, Saugata Roy (TMC) said.
The agitating MPs returned to their seats after Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu rose to intervene. He said the government didn’t believe in misusing the CBI as its predecessor government had done, and told the TMC: “Don’t come to the rescue of people who are tainted or you will get a bad name.” He also objected to the reference to the BJP president in the House.
After another exchange of words with the BJP, the Trinamool members walked out with party MP Sultan Ahmed holding up a photograph purportedly showing Sahara group chief Subrata Roy shaking hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
AIADMK protest Meanwhile, the AIADMK members too protested in the Rajya Sabha during zero hour against a question in a railway recruitment examination about former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa having to relinquish her office after conviction in a Disproportionate Assets case.
A. Navaneethakrishnan (AIADMK) said it was “highly improper” for such a question to be included in the exam prompting Mr. Jaitley to say that he would refer the matter to the Railway Ministry to get the “propriety or impropriety” of the question examined.
Published - December 15, 2014 11:32 am IST
