BJP to boycott Rajya Sabha till withdrawal of notice

BJP today said the party will continue to boycott the Rajya Sabha until the parliamentary bulletin naming its members for trooping into the Well of the House protesting Defence Minister A K Antony's statement on LoC killings is withdrawn.

'Unless the notice of names is not withdrawn, there is no question of going to the House. We will continue the protest,' said BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu outside Parliament.

The Parliament bulletin has named 20 BJP MPs and two TDP MPs for 'disorderly conduct in violation of rules and etiquettes of the Rajya Sabha and wilfully obstructing the proceedings of the House.'

Rajya Sabha was adjourned repeatedly after vociferous protests from BJP and TDP members over naming of their party colleagues in the House bulletin for disrupting proceedings.

Hardening its stand against the Congress, BJP also ruled out any cooperation with the government. 'There is no question of any cooperation with the government. We have seen clearly that this government is partisan and vindictive. They cannot expect any support from us on any issues.'

Referring to the women reservation issue, Naidu said, 'When women reservation copy was snatched and torn away by an MP from the Minister then what happened to the rules...Nothing happened. It is a discrimination. In the Lok Sabha you allow your men to disrupt the House. But in the Rajya Sabha if the members protest you name them.'

BJP MP Smriti Irani, who was named in the notice, said, 'I will wear this as a badge of honour. That day Mani Shankar Aiyar and everybody were raising it (issue). But no Congmen are in the bulletin. Yesterday, I raised the slogan 'Pakistan Murdabad' in the Well of the House. If that is a violation of the etiquette then it is a matter of honour for me. If for raising such slogan, I am getting a notice then I think it is a honour for me. No notice can compel me to praise Pakistan after the killing of five soldiers by them.'

Another BJP MP Dharmendra Pradahan, named in the bulletin for violation of rules in the House, said, 'If raising voice against those who killed our soldiers is a crime then we are willing to commit such crime again and again.'

Unless the notice is withdrawn we are not going to attend the House, he added.