Parliamentarians across party lines condemned the unprecedented chaos and anarchy in the lok Sabha on Thursday. Shocked by the pepper spray attack inside the House, many of them have demanded arrest of those indulging in such hooliganism.
The shameful action of the MPs protesting the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh triggered all-round denunciation with lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman in stating the incident had “shamed us.”
“India’s parliamentary democracy is respected throughout the world. Today what has happened is a blot,” said Kumar.
NDA chairman and BJP veteran lK Advani said what happened in the House was disgraceful not only for the Government but Parliament and blamed the ruling dispensation for it. Advani, and leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley accused the Government of not doing proper homework and indulging in this “drama”.
Terming the incident as “disgraceful” and “sad” for Parliament, Advani attacked the Government, saying it was hell-bent on getting the Bill passed anyhow even if it means suspension or expulsion of members. “Whatever has happened in Parliament is not just unfortunate but also shameful...For this, the Congress party is solely responsible. It is a drama enacted by the Congress,” Advani said.
Holding the Congress “solely responsible” for fracas, Arun Jaitley said the incident had given a bad name to Indian democracy as the “Congress leadership has lost control over its members”.
Terming the events as a “theatre of the absurd”, Jaitley said it could have been avoided had the Congress leadership done adequate homework. The BJP leader cited the smooth creation of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand during the NDA regime when concerns of all regions were addressed and there were no protests.
Condemning the incident, CPI(M) MP in the Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury said he had warned the Congress and the Government at the pre-Session all-party meeting “to put their own house in order by settling the problem, so that this House (Parliament) functions but they did not pay heed to the warning and the country is paying the price today.
Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay attacked Congress and the Government for not listing the Bill in the list of business. “It was not even mentioned in the supplementary list of business of lok Sabha. This is highly irregular. Most MPs were in the dark on the issue and the Congress has made a mess of it,” he said.
CPI member Gurudas Dasgupta has demanded the arrest of l Rajagopal, who used pepper spray inside the lok Sabha. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh came down heavily on anti-Telangana MP l Rajagopal, who used pepper spray in the lok Sabha, saying his action “has diminished all MPs” and demanded that he be debarred from Parliament. Ramesh is a member of Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the 15th lok Sabha was going to enter the record book for no good reason.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi insisted the Congress “has bitten the bullet” on the formation of Telangana by introducing the Bill in the lok Sabha. He suggested while the ruling party had kept the promise on the Bill, the opposition only “appears” to be in agreement but was doing “precious little”.
Condemning the incident, Singhvi favoured “strictest possible punishment” against l Rajagopal, saying it will be the “end of democracy” if such “internal attacks” recur. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath condemned the behaviour of the MPs and said Speaker would take action. There was also a blame game with Nath accusing the BJP of changing its stand and opposing the Bill while also declaring its support. “BJP has been totally exposed,” he said.