Parl rocked by Sayeed's remarks; Govt distances

Parliament was today rocked over Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's remarks giving credit to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militants for the smooth conduct of polls in the state, prompting the government and BJP to "fully dissociate" with it.
Describing the remarks as "anti-national" and "serious", opposition parties slammed Sayeed and wanted a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as BJP has a tie-up with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.
The opposition also wanted a resolution by Parliament to condemn Sayeed's remarks and hail the role of security forces as well as the Election Commission in conduct of the polls in November-December last year.

The issue was raised in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, a day after Sayeed made the remarks soon after taking oath of office and secrecy.
In view of the uproar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh asserted in Lok Sabha that "the government and his party (BJP) fully disassociate" themselves from the remarks made by Sayeed.
Dissatisfied with Singh's response, almost the entire Opposition staged a walkout.

Earlier, K C Venugopal (Cong) raised the issue, saying "this is a serious issue" as he quoted Sayeed as saying that he had also had a word with the Prime Minister.
He said Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh of BJP was sitting next to the Chief Minister but had given no clarification.

Venugopal said militants killed six village sarpanchs and mounted suicide attacks on Army units. "This cannot be called creating a conducive atmosphere," he said, adding that the credit for smooth conduct of elections should be given to the people of the state, the Election Commission and security personnel.
"The Prime Minister's silence is shocking...The House should condemn it. We should pass a resolution," he said.
The Home Minister said he wanted to make it clear that "the government and his party (BJP) fully disassociate themselves" from the remarks made by Sayeed.