parliament rocked over alleged govt bjp deal to let off modi

18 Aug 2010

PARLIAMENT ROCKED OVER ALLEGED GOVT-BJP DEAL TO LET OFF MODI

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: Parliament was paralysed by the non-BJP opposition on Wednesday alleging the main opposition BJP's trade-off with the government to support the controversial Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill in return for the CBI's clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2005 fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, in which his Home Minister was arrested.

Members repeatedly rushed into the well of both the Houses as soon as they met and then every time they re-assembled after adjournment and ultimately the presiding officers adjourned them for Thursday, but only after the much-awaited Standing Committee report on the Bill, crucial for operationalisation of India's civil nuclear deals with various countries for setting up power plants was tabled amid pandemonium.

The report tabled in the Rajya Sabha by committee chairman T Subbirami Reddy and in the Lok Sabha by its member Pradeep Tamta (Cong) has dissenting notes from its CPI(M) and Forward Bloc members, Saman Pathak of CPI(M) wanting no cap on total liability and increasing the nuclear plant operator's liability for each incident from Rs 1500 crores as recommended by the committee to Rs 10,000 crores while Dr Barun Mukherji (FB) wanted plants under joint venture excluded from the limited liability.

While Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav led the charge on letting off Modi with the Left rising in support, the Bahujan Samaj Party members were in the well with a different agenda of pressing for dismissal of the BJP government in Karnataka for illegal mining, a tit-for-tat tactic adopted for attack in the last two days on their leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for farmers' killings.

The BSP members trooped into the well in both the Houses waving placards for Karnataka government's dismissal as soon as they assembled and then followed the din over alleged clean chit to Modi in the Gujarat encounter for BJP ending standoff and supporting the nuclear bill.

Some RJD MPs and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan also sat on dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament House complex for giving the clean chit to Modi even while Mulayam justified protests in Parliament, pointing out that that "BJP and Congress have struck a deal over the nuclear bill for bailing out Narendra Modi" putting the national interests aside.

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