Opposition questions Amit Shah's absence, forces four Lok Sabha halts

NEW DELHI: The Opposition on Thursday forced four adjournments in the Lok Sabha by intensifying their protest against Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged police action against the agitating students. The Opposition MPs, especially from the Samajwadi Party, also raised the Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft case at a dharna outside Parliament House.

The Opposition protests forced the first adjournment right at the start of the sitting followed by those at 2 pm and 3 pm before the House rushed the Bill on Vande Mataram through by braving the Opposition protests before the Chair adjourned the House for the day.

"Why is Shah so scared of coming to Parliament and explaining the brutal violence against students? It reeks of guilt," said leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a social media post.


Pointing out that Shah used to be often present when important bills were taken up or discussions on important took place in the Lok Sabha, Kodikunnil Suresh, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, told journalists, "The question is, why the home minister was not present in the House yesterday and the day before. Why is he not coming to the House?"

Ram Gopal Yadav of SP said, "I want to ask the people: when shots were fired in Ayodhya (over the kar seva row many years ago), (the then UP CM), Mulayam Singh was held responsible for ordering it, yet when shots were fired here (Delhi protests), it was attributed to the administration. Just look at the double standards".

About the Ram temple theft, Yadav said it is a matter concerning the faith of crores of people. "The Samajwadi Party's argument is that you (BJP) fought the elections and came to power by invoking the name of Lord Ram. Yet, you allowed the very donations and offerings made to him to be stolen. This is a serious issue".