BJP targets Singhdeo over statement on tribal's death

The ruling BJP today attacked Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo in Chhattisgarh Assembly for presenting "wrong" facts and "misleading" the House on the issue of a tribal's death during a discussion over farmers' suicides last week.
As the House assembled, BJP members raised the issue during the Question Hour and demanded that Singhdeo should withdraw his statement over the death of a tribal named Ribai Pando due to starvation in Surguja district in 1992.
They also demanded his apology for presenting "incorrect" facts to the Assembly.
Thereafter, Congress members started raising slogans against the government, prompting Speaker Gaurishankar Agarwal to adjourn the House for five minutes.

Last week, BJP MLA Shivratan Sharma had claimed that the report of the death was false but Singhdeo objected to the statement and claimed that the case of Pando's death was genuine. He had even challenged that if the charge was found to be true, then he would take the responsibility and resign.
When the House re-assembled, Higher Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey said Singhdeo had offered to resign over Sharma's comment during the discussion on the issue on December 17 and later submitted his resignation letter to the Assembly Speaker.

"During his speech, Sharma had raised the issue of reported death of Ribai Pando in Bijapura village of Surguja during the tenure of erstwhile Madhya Pardesh Chief Minister Sunder Lal Patwa," Pandey said.

However, quoting Sharma's statement in the House today, Pandey said, "Former Prime Minister PV Nasimha Rao had visited the village, during which Pando was found alive."
Pandey further said, "The facts have now been verified. Pando was alive that time. Singhdeo should take back his words and apologise."
Supporting him on the issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar also sought his apology saying Singhdeo should not have made such wrong claims in the House.
Meanwhile, another minister said Singhdeo had said that if the report of death was genuine, then Sharma should take back his statement. "Now since the report of death has been proved false, it is now his (Singhdeo's) responsibility to take back his statement."

Under sharp attack from the treasury bench, Congress legislators tried to cover Singhdeo, but the latter later admitted his "mistake" and withdrew his statement.
The Speaker then asked the members to put forth issues in the House with "facts and truth".