The aggressive note struck by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the floor of the Lok Sabha on day one of the monsoon session of Parliament on Wednesday spurred the treasury benches into action against the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] offensive on the Assam violence.
Gandhi's remark came in response to the BJP leader L K Advani calling the second tenure of the United Progressive Alliance [UPA] government illegitimate.
Gandhi's comment encouraged even a reticent politician like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to term BJP leader's comments to be 'disgraceful'. The combative mood on the treasury benches put opposition on the back foot, forcing Advani to retract his comment.
Briefly this incident took the focus away from the debate on Assam. Earlier, opening discussion on the adjournment motion on the Assam violence, Advani said that the first tenure of the UPA government was legitimate, but its second tenure was not. The debate continued after he clarified the remark.
Advani termed the violence in Assam 'unprecedented' and said that the central government was responsible for it as it could not stop the influx of Bangladeshi nationals across the porous border. The BJP leader, who had visited relief camps in Kokrajhar, said that the violence displaced three to four lakh people and made the people of Assam 'refugees in their own state'.
Replying to the motion, the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that the army had been kept on alert. He also told the Lok Sabha that an additional director of the Central Bureau of Investigation would visit Guwahati on Thursday, following a request from the Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to investigate the cases of violence.
Gandhi's remark came in response to the BJP leader L K Advani calling the second tenure of the United Progressive Alliance [UPA] government illegitimate.
Gandhi's comment encouraged even a reticent politician like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to term BJP leader's comments to be 'disgraceful'. The combative mood on the treasury benches put opposition on the back foot, forcing Advani to retract his comment.
Briefly this incident took the focus away from the debate on Assam. Earlier, opening discussion on the adjournment motion on the Assam violence, Advani said that the first tenure of the UPA government was legitimate, but its second tenure was not. The debate continued after he clarified the remark.
Advani termed the violence in Assam 'unprecedented' and said that the central government was responsible for it as it could not stop the influx of Bangladeshi nationals across the porous border. The BJP leader, who had visited relief camps in Kokrajhar, said that the violence displaced three to four lakh people and made the people of Assam 'refugees in their own state'.
Replying to the motion, the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that the army had been kept on alert. He also told the Lok Sabha that an additional director of the Central Bureau of Investigation would visit Guwahati on Thursday, following a request from the Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to investigate the cases of violence.