VHP's controversial Ayodhya yatra rocked Parliament on Monday with both Houses being disrupted repeatedly due to clashes between Samajwadi Party and BJP as demands were made for dismissal of the Uttar Pradesh government. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh launched a scathing attack on BJP, saying it was resorting to hooliganism by disregarding the Constitution and court orders.
Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lok Sabha that the Ayodhya dispute was not new and the matter is pending in the court. He blamed the BJP of creating a situation of riots in the past. He said that the Supreme Court had issued a directive that no action should be taken until a decision has been made. He defended the party's decision to ban the yatra and said that they only followed what the Supreme Court asked them to do. "SC directed that till the time there is no judgement nothing should happen. We didn't beat up anyone, we only maintained law and order," Yadav said.
However Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati accused the Samajwadi Party of joining hands with the VHP over the Ayodhya Yatra saying that no such proposal of a 84-kosi yatra came during my tenure. VHP leader had met Mulayam Singh. It surely was a joint gameplan of the VHP-SP."
BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu slammed the Samajwadi Party and blamed them for disrupting the House. "SP came with a pre-determined plan to disrupt the house, playing cheap vote bank politics. It will boomerang on them. They are trying to divert from their failures on law and order front," Naidu said.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed three adjournments each on the issue in the pre-lunch session. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that BJP is resorting to hooliganism and had attacked the party's office in Delhi following crackdown by the UP government on VHP's yatra.
"We know how to stop hooliganism. We have stopped it in the past," he said, accusing BJP of engineering riots. Charging BJP with violating court orders and disregarding the Constitution, Yadav said they are resorting to anti-national activities. "Since they have no support left they are looking for excuses. There is no vote bank left with them so they want riots. They should stop vote bank politics. People are not supporting them. Saints have also condemned them," he said.
This was strongly countered by BJP's Yogi Adityanath who insisted that the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has declared the disputed place as the birthplace of Lord Ram and the saints have been demanding a law for the purpose.
We had scheduled yatra in Ayodhya but we were picked up by police and were not allowed to conduct puja. We have been stopped on exercising our constitutional right, they have changed the meaning of secularism,” he said. “This govt gives shelter to jehadis and hurts sentiments of Hindus, Samajwadi Party has created a jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh,” he further said. Adityanath accused the SP government of "humiliating the saints and insulting the Hindus" and demanded it should be immediately dismissed. He claimed that SP rule has seen as many as 30 riots, in which the Hindus have suffered. He said the UP government was allotting land in the name of cemeteries.
Meanwhile, VHP members who gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest against UP govt's ban on Ayodhya Yatra were dispersed using water cannons.
Back in Lok Sabha, JD(U) Chief Sharad Yadav's questioned as to who had given VHP the monopoly to represent Hindus, who have one lakh castes. This led to immediate protests by BJP members, who were up on their feet.
In the Rajya Sabha, uproar over Ayodhya yatra stalled the pre-lunch sitting with SP and BJP members clashing. Soon after the House met for the day, SP members shouted slogans alleging an attack by BJP workers on their Delhi office, a charge strongly refuted by the main opposition party.
The issue forced two adjournments before Zero Hour as Chairman Hamid Ansari's repeated efforts to restore normalcy in the House did not yield any result. When the House resumed at noon, BJP members came in aisle shouting slogans. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, who was in the Chair, criticised this saying leaders of parties had decided that they will not raise slogans in the House. Kurien also said the slogans will not go on record.
"It (slogan) won't go on record. It is indiscipline," Kurien said. Members from BJP also shouted slogans but they did not come in the aisle. While Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley remained seated, other BJP members were on their feet.
(With additional inputs from CNN IBN)
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