Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A united opposition led by BJP and the Left parties on Thursday launched a bitter attack on the UPA government for its alleged slow response to the deadly Naxal attack in Chattisgarh’s Dantewada district, spiralling price rise and MoS for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor`s involvement in an ugly IPL row.
The Lok Sabha, which was earlier adjourned till 12 noon, witnessed uproarious scenes shortly after it resumed as the opposition members demanded a statement from the government on the April 6 Dantewada massacre.
Launching a scathing attack on the UPA government, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, “The government’s response to the Naxal attack in Chattisgarh was “inadequate and very slow”.
The BJP leader also slammed the government for not doing enough to help the families of the slain CRPF men in the deadly attack. The government also faced the opposition heat as it found faults with its strategy to deal with the Naxal menace.
The repeated disruptions of the proceedings inside the House by the Opposition MPs forced Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the House till 2 pm. Meanwhile, the Upper House was also adjourned till 2 pm over the same.
Earlier, both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned shortly after they resumed this morning for the Budget Session, as a united opposition launched a blistering attack on UPA government over Dantewada massacre, price rise issue and the IPL controversy.
The uproar reached the pitch as opposition demanded answers on the killing of 76 security personnel by Maoists in Dantewada, forcing government on the back foot.
Ruling UPA`s strength in the Lok Sabha will now be put to test when Parliament resumes in the afternoon with the Opposition planning to move a cut motion on price rise and it spitting fire over Shashi Tharoor’s motives in supporting the Kochi bid and then getting entangled with Lalit Modi over the same.
BJP and Left parties are hell bent on Tharoor’s resignation over his ambiguous conduct in IPL Kochi franchisee row and the controversies surrounding him in the past. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party has joined the Opposition bandwagon calling for the resignation of MoS Shashi Tharoor.
“Why the Prime Minister has not sacked him so far. Tharoor should be removed from the Union Cabinet without further delay,” SP spokesperson Mohan Singh said in New Delhi today.
Samajwadi Party, which has a love-hate relationship with Congress, has gone on to term the MoS a “blot on the public life”.
Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor has sought a meeting with Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony in order to explain his stand on the issue. It is believed that the high command has decided to give him a chance to explain himself. This was the third instance of a meet with the top brass in the past twelve hours.
Earlier yesterday, caught in a storm over his role in Kochi IPL franchise, Tharoor was summoned by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Tharoor had explained his position and dug in his heels saying he would not quit office on the matter. Defence Minister AK Antony was also present at the meeting.
"If I had done anything wrong, I would have resigned. To resign because people have chosen to deliberately misrepresent you or misperceive you means that you are giving more importance to other people`s perception than to your own character and your own integrity. I am not going to resign," Tharoor had said.
Tharoor asserted in his interview telecast live on the channel that the charges were motivated by political and business interests.
Tharoor added that his involvement with the IPL team had nothing whatsoever to do with Sunanda Pushkar, who has a stake in the company that is a co-owner of IPL Kochi franchise, and with whom he has only been "recently close".
Pranab had called Tharoor to discuss the matter after a Congress meeting in the evening yesterday, which was presided by Sonia Gandhi and had mulled strategy for the Budget session.
