The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BJP to raise Lalu issue in Parliament

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 15, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

BJP to raise Lalu issue in Parliament

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Charging Railway Minister Lalu Prasad with hurting the pride of Kannadigas during his recent visit to Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said it will raise the issue in the ensuing Parliament session.

Participating at the BJP special State executive meeting here on Thursday, party general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar said the party would also support the protest by pro-Kannada groups against Mr. Prasad.

Mr. Ananth Kumar took exception to the reported remarks of Mr. Prasad against Kannadigas and also rejecting the demand for a quota for Kannadigas in Group ‘D’ posts.

Endorsing his views, party vice-president and in charge for Karnataka, Yashwant Sinha, expressed concern over Mr. Prasad transferring some of the top railway officials in Karnataka for allegedly serving cold food to him. “Mr. Prasad should know that we are in a democratic set-up and not in a Moghul empire.”

He asked people of the State to march forward with Kannadiga pride. At the same time, he hailed the Kannadigas for their national approach. Mr. Sinha remarked that Mr. Prasad, who professes to follow Jayaprakash Narayan’s ideology was actually doing everything to destroy it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ananth Kumar said the party would welcome the decision by the Election Commission to issue notice to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking her response to an allegation that she had incurred disqualification as member of Parliament for accepting the “Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold” from the King of Belgium.

But such a decision by the commission should have been a unanimous one, he noted.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka