New Delhi, May 08: Defying party's decision to boycott George Fernandes, at least four congress members in Lok Sabha today refused to walk out when the Defence Minister rose to reply to a calling attention motion on frequent crashes of Mig fighter aircraft. It was quite an embarrassing situation for the Congress as the motion was tabled by its member Jagmeet Singh Brar who chose to stay on to listen to Fernandes along with K P Singh Deo, Laxman Singh and Vilas Muttemwar.


Twice a few members, including Avtar Singh Bhadana and Ranee Narah, quietly approached them to move out of the house but they seemed to ignore the advice, a move welcomed by NDA members. After the Defence Minister read out the calling attention statement, Muttemwar and Singh Deo left the house but Brar and Laxman Singh stayed on.

Left Party as well as RJD members too had joined the walkout, continuing their stand to boycott Fernandes in Parliament over the Tehelka expose.
While complimenting the defiant members, Samata Party member Prabhunath Singh threatened to raise the issue of alleged smuggling of antiques to Italy if the Congress maintained its campaign to target his party leader Fernandes.

Bureau Report