This Article is From Apr 06, 2018

Protest vs Protest In Parliament: BJP Lawmakers To Fast, Congress Boycotts Tea

BJP MPs have decided to observe a fast on April 12 to protest against the parliament logjam.

The BJP accuses the Congress and Sonia Gandhi of disrupting parliament.

New Delhi: Moments after both houses of parliament ended in a clatter of protests, members of the ruling BJP-led coalition and the opposition Congress took their fight outside.

Lawmakers of the BJP, including ministers, and those of the Congress, stood facing each other at the Gandhi statue with placards, each side screaming slogans and trying to out-shout the other side.

BJP MPs have decided to observe a fast on April 12 to protest against the parliament logjam, said union minister Ananth Kumar.
 
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NDA lawmakers will forgo their salary and allowances for 23 days that parliament did not function.

"The Congress party is intolerant of the mandate given to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi in 21 states," Union Parliamentary Minister Ananth Kumar told NDTV as he and other MPs marched across the parliament complex holding yellow posters and placards and shouting slogans.

He said all BJP lawmakers would observe a one-day fast in their constituencies on April 12. "This will be done across the nation," he added.

The BJP accuses the Congress and Sonia Gandhi of disrupting parliament. Yesterday, a furious Sonia Gandhi had slammed Ananth Kumar for targeting her in the Lok Sabha and said: "I think it's shameful that the parliamentary affairs minister can speak such lies on the floor of the house."
 
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The proceedings of the Lok Sabha were disrupted every day of this session.

For the first time, Congress leaders stayed away from tea hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan this morning, protesting against the way the disruptions in the house were handled.

The government-Congress confrontation highlights sharp battlelines in a year of elections, especially the polls in Congress-ruled Karnataka on May 12.

Parliament's budget session was a near washout as both houses were adjourned without much progress after daily disruptions and protests.
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