Stepping up attack on home minister P. Chidambaram, the main Opposition BJP on Tuesday moved a privilege motion against him for “disrespecting” Parliament by making a statement outside on the recent controversy over allegedly helping a local hotelier. The BJP also said it was “improper” on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s part to give a clean chit to Mr Chidamabaram during a media interaction on his return from Russia. The Congress however, accused the main opposition of resorting to “obstructionist means” to derail the smooth functioning of Parliament.
The motion was moved by senior BJP leader and Hazaribagh MP, Yashwant Sinha, in Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments after Question Hour when BJP members raised the matter. BJP members had given a notice for discussion on the issue during Zero Hour and were demanding PM’s clarification on the issue. On the other hand, Left parties members were protesting against Mr Chidambaram’s recent statement on the Mullaperiyar dam issue. Amidst ruckus, the House was adjourned till 2 PM but had to be adjourned against when it re-assembled. It was later adjourned for the day over the issue.
In Lok Sabha, Mr Chidamabaram was heckled by BJP members when he was replying to supplementaries during Question Hour. The BJP is boycotting him in Parliament over his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The party has been demanding Mr Chidambaram’s resignation and a clarification from the PM over the Home minister’s “conflict of interest.”
After Question Hour, Mr Sinha reminded Speaker Meira Kumar of his notice to speak on the issue but was told that his notice was under her consideration.
The decision to move the motion against Mr Chidambaram was taken at BJP Parliamentary Party meeting chaired by its chairman L.K. Advani. Both the leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley along with other senior leaders were also present in the meeting on Tuesday morning.
After the meeting, deputy leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha S.S. Ahluwalia said “Chidamabaram has talked to the media outside when the Parliament session is on. Instead of making a statement inside Parliament after giving a notice, which every minister has, he decided to give a statement to the media outside. This amounts to disrespect of Parliament.”