BJP continued its protest on the issue of Price Rise
The deadlock in parliament over the nature of debate on rising prices of essential commodities continued on Thursday. A determined opposition stalled proceedings in both the houses for the third day.
Opposition parties across the spectrum protested both inside and outside the house a day after the Lok Sabha Speaker Mrs. Meira Kumar rejected the opposition demand for debating the issue as an adjournment motion that entails voting. A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L.K. Advani, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj called on the President Mrs. Pratibha Patil's and sought her intervention.
They submitted a memorandum to this effect to Mrs. Patil. Talking to reporters outside Rashtrapati Bhavan senior BJP Leader L K Advani expressed surprise over Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement on the price rise and said that the opposition has made use of all the methods to register people's protest over price rise.
Non NDA opposition parties demonstrated inside the Parliament House complex, demanding a roll-back in the hike in fuel prices, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India, along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) participated in the demonstration seeking a discussion under rules which have a specific provision for voting.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters that they want the adjournment motion to be accepted. Protests were held amidst repeated adjournments in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
