Disgruntled BJP Leader Earns Praise from Opposition
Patna: Mar. 19, 2007
With the opposition leaders' Assembly boycott continuing for the 8th day in a row, a record in itself by some accounts, there was high drama at the state Assembly on Monday when Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhola Singh walked out of the Assembly saying the government had failed to resolve the ongoing dispute and was being run by the fascist elements in the Cabinet.
Singh, who had been quite vocal in expressing his displeasure against the NDA government in the recent months, said he would not return to the Assembly until the government withdrew the censure motion against the opposition leaders and acted soon on expansion of the Cabinet.
As soon as the session in the Assembly began on Monday morning, Singh demanded to know from the Speaker Uday Narayan Chowdhary what he had done to pacify the opposition leaders who are now on the 8th day of their boycott. "This boycott is going to have an adverse impact on the sanctity of the Assembly yet the government is not doing anything to resolve the crisis," he said.
Ramashray Prasad Singh, responding to Bhola Singh's question, said the government had tried everything to placate them but they are adamant to have their ways knowing fully well that the censure motion against them is justified.
Deputy Chief Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi said it was the duty of the government to criticize the opposition's behavior after their shameful acts in the Assembly on March 12.
"They have yet to apologize for their despicable behavior inside or outside the Assembly and until that happens, there was no question of withdrawing the censure motion against them," Modi said.
"If Bhola Singh is so concerned with the current standoff, he should come up with a solution," he further said.
Sources in the government said Bhola Singh is not as much upset with the ongoing boycott by the opposition as much as he is with the Nitish government's dilly-dallying in the expansion of the Cabinet.
"The entire government has been hijacked by the Janata Dal (U) leaders while the BJP has been reduced to almost a non-entity. I feel suffocated here. Although Sushil Kumar Modi is the Deputy Chief Minister, he hardly has any power to do anything. In the absence of the opposition, this whole thing has shrunk to a mockery of democracy," Singh said like an opposition leader.
As expected, Singh's statements were welcomed by the opposition leaders including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi who said that by raising concerns about the functioning of his own government, Singh had raised the democratic values of the nation.
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