Opposition unhappy with Hamid Ansari's last-minute conduct in RS

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday indicated that it was unhappy with the way Rajya Sabha Chairperson Hamid Ansari had conducted himself during the last few minutes of the session on Thursday when the Lokpal Bill was being discussed but restrained itself due to respect for the high office.

Vice President Ansari, who is ex-officio chairperson of the Upper House, had adjourned the Rajya Sabha stating there was total impasse and the House cannot be run in this noise.

BJP was not pleased with Ansari's decision and felt the matter could have been dealt with differently. The Opposition wanted the House to continue functioning till the Bill was passed or seek an extension from the President.

"I have strong views on that ruling but I will keep it to myself," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley pointed out that he had beseeched Ansari to take a call on the issue. As the "custodian" of the House, he could decide to continue and allow completion of the proceedings.

Jaitley maintained that as long as the House was in session it was the master and could decide on its own to extend it.

"The presiding officer could have taken the sense of the House and continued with the session. But the chairperson thought otherwise," he said.

WHile the BJP is miffed, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury defended the Vice-President's action and said, "To be fair to the Chair, the Chair can only extend the session only at the call of the government and if the government didn't ask for it, the chair is helpless."

BJP is also miffed that though there were reports that President Pratibha Patil is waiting in case the government wanted an extension of the session, UPA did not exercise this option.

BJP leaders to call on President over Lokpal fiasco

The Opposition also announced that a high level party delegation will call on President Pratibha Patil on January 3 to register its protest against the Lokpal Bill fiasco in Parliament and also launch a week-long nation-wide agitation on the issue.

In the wake of unruly scenes in the Rajya Sabha which led to adjournment of the House, the BJP core group held a meeting in New Delhi to chalk out its strategy for taking on the UPA over the crucial issue.

"On January 3, a high-level BJP delegation will meet President Pratibha Patil to register its protest against the murder of democracy by the UPA government," BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the meeting.

The delegation will be led by senior leader LK Advani and party president Nitin Gadkari.

The BJP will also launch a "Save democracy, remove Congress" campaign throughout the country from January 3-10.

"The campaign will be from BJP's district headquarters to the state level as well as by the Central unit. Silent protest marches by BJP members wearing black bands will be held against the shameless manner in which the government conducted itself on the Lokpal Bill," Prasad said.

He alleged that while the government did not have the numbers in Lok Sabha it ran away from voting in the Rajya Sabha on the Lokpal Bill.

With the battle in Parliament on the Lokpal issue now put to rest till the budget session, the BJP has decided to take to the streets on the issue.

The contentious issue is likely to figure in a big way during the forthcoming polls in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

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