SP alleges, Congress insults its members in House
New Delhi: Charges and counter-charges flew thick and fast minutes after the controversy in the Lok Sabha in which a SP member snatched the copy of quota in promotion bill from Union Minister V Narayansamy and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi intervened to stop him.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, accompanied by his party members including Yashvir Singh who had snatched the Bill copy, told reporters outside Parliament House that Congress has insulted his party MP.
“Congress has insulted our MP. Our MP was beaten and now the channel has deleted (blacked out) the clipping. What was done to our MP is insulting,” he said.
He said SP has opposed this bill all along and will continue to oppose it but denied Congress allegations that the party had used a Dalit MP to snatch the bill from the minister and that the whole incident was pre-planned.
Yadav alluded to pressures on him from the government, saying Congress is using all instruments to put pressure on him but he will continue to fight.
“When the Congress goes to the people it will realise the serious repercussions,” he said.
Yashvir Singh, MP from Nagina reserved constituency, was reluctant to speak about the issue but said there was “violence” in the House.
Vilas Muttemwar (Cong) denied the charge that he had attacked Yashvir Singh in the melee. “This incident only shows the attitude of SP towards Dalits. BJP allegation that Congress attacked the SP member is only adding fuel to fire. If minister is under attack is it not our duty to protect him,” he asked. Harsimrat Kaur (SAD) condemned the role of the Treasury Benches in the whole episode.
“Is this the way the ruling party chief should behave? She grabbed the bill from a SC member. This is the first time that I have seen a member holding the collar of another MP while another member tried to box him,” she said.
She maintained that there are several other democratic ways of protest and the Congress members should not have acted in the manner they did.
Kaur alleged that the clipping of the incident is not being shown on the channel and has been deliberately deleted. “This is an attempt to gag the media,” she claimed.
Congress member and Scheduled Caste Commission chairperson P L Punia alleged that this was a pre-planned act by SP members.
“This is a shameful act. SP is anti-Dalit. The SP member snatched the Bill. The attempt was also to attack Congress members,” he said.
Punia also alleged that SP used a Dalit MP to snatch the quota in promotion for SC/ST bill.
Mulayam Singh Yadav denied these charges. He said snatching or tearing a bill in the House is not new and this is the third such incident in the present Lok Sabha itself.
