New Delhi, April 16 (Inditop.com) Angry over the repeated disruptions of parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Friday said opposition parties were “misleading” the people and holding the house to ransom over the IPL row involving Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
“They are misleading the people,” Bansal fumed, as opposition MPs led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested noisily in the Lok Sabha and demanded resignation of Tharoor over alleged misuse of his official position to help his friend Sunanda Pushkar get sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Kochi franchise.
Tharoor in a statement tabled in the house denied the allegations, but that didn’t satisfy the opposition MPs who created a ruckus in the house leading to three adjournments of the Lok Sabha and a clamour for his resignation.
“Do they want the parliament to run at all?” Bansal asked, intervening as the MPs shouted “Shashi Tharoor, Jaaye Zaroor (Tharoor has to go in any case)”.
The parliamentary affairs minister requested the protesting MPs to “maintain the sanctity of the house” and let it function.
“It is your right… it is your duty to raise the issues in the house. But the honourable minister had prepared a statement. You should have allowed him to speak. He tabled the statement and you should read that,” he said, trying to pacify the protesting members, but in vain.
He then said that the opposition members “were holding the entire house to ransom”.
“What are we doing to parliament? What are we doing to democracy? We have been elected by people to raise their issues. If they (opposition MPs) don’t want to let the house function they should be clear about that,” he said.
Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Karia Munda then adjourned the house till Monday.
