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| NDA boycotts Lok Sabha to protest against Speaker | | | New Delhi, Aug 8: The NDA today boycotted the Lok Sabha and held a sit-in in the Parliament compound to protest against Speaker Somnath Chatterjee whom it accused of suppressing the Opposition's voice in the House.
Led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani, NDA members sat on a pathway along Mahatma Gandhi's statue facing the Parliament's main gate.
Neither did they sign their daily attendance register, nor attend their daily meeting with the Speaker before the House assembled.
The NDA members also declined their daily Parliament allowance for today.
The Opposition leaders accused the Speaker of refusing them an opportunity to speak yesterday when the House witnessed an uproar over the leak of the Pathak authority report. They also objected to the Speaker going through the listed business despite the din.
MPs belonging to the BJP, Shiv Sena, BJD, Shiromani Akali Dal and the JD (U) wore gags during their sit-in.
In his brief comments, Advani told reporters that the Speaker's conduct had forced the NDA to boycott the House.
"We too do not like this kind of a move. But the NDA is compelled to do it because of the conduct of the Speaker," Advani said. "It's a collective decision of the Opposition alliance." After a BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee parried questions regarding the NDA's boycott of the House.
"... The boycott will end today. ...It's an alliance decision," he remarked. |
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