Mayawati, Yechury take pot-shots at government

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury today took several digs at the Narendra Modi government over the Rohit Vemula suicide issue, saying thee Centre could not respond to opposition queries because it was awaiting a "signal from Nagpur, indicating the RSS headquarters.

During heated exchanges over the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati wondered why Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi could not give a reply on behalf of the government on whether they will include a Dalit in the judicial committee probing the suicide by the Dalit student of Hyderabad University.

Yechury then stood up to say that the treasury bench cannot say anything without a signal from the Prime Minister.

The BSP leader immediately quipped that the government was "waiting for a signal from Nagpur", where the RSS headquarters is located.

Not to be left behind, Yechury again took a pot-shot at the government saying "one should also remember there are lots of call drops."

Another incident which left the House in splits was when Mayawati literally snubbed JD-U leader K C Tyagi when he was making an intervention. Tyagi's remarks were expunged.

Mayawati accused him of playing into the hands of the BJP to take the focus away from a serious issue. This led to a few minutes of sloganeering by the treasury bench.