Congress, AIADMK clash in Lok Sabha on move to release Rajiv Gandhi assassins

NEW DELHI: The move of the Tamil Nadu government to release seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case generated heat in Lok Sabha today with Congress and AIADMK members clashing on the issue.


The uproar over the issue started with AIADMK members storming the Well after Congress member Sanjay Nirupam charged Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa with playing politics and deciding to release all the seven convicts when the Supreme Court had spoken of only three.

"We don't agree with the apex court order. But the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is doing politics by releasing all of them," he said, adding they should serve the entire punishment they have already been awarded.

"What the Tamil Nadu government has done is complete injustice," Nirupam said, prompting AIADMK members to troop into the Well and indulging in heated exchanges with the treasury benches and raising slogans.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was present in the House. Besides AIADMK members, their colleagues from JD(U) and SP were already in the Well protesting over other issues.

The din led Fransisco Sardinha, who was in the Chair, to adjourn the House for about 90 minutes till 2 PM.

The Jayalalithaa government had yesterday decided to set free all seven convicts in the assassination case after the apex court commuted the death penalty of three of them to life imprisonment.

The House agreed to the amendments moved by Rajya Sabha on the bills on Street Vendors, Governors' Emoluments and National Institutes of Technology by voice vote.

Earlier, minutes after the Lok Sabha assembled for the day it was adjourned till noon as SP members rushed to the Well demanding passage of the Communal Violence Prevention Bill.

JD-U members joined them in the Well demanding special category status for Bihar, while AIADMK members were displaying posters supporting Tamil Nadu government's decision in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.