Lalu did not tutor me to tear Lokpal Bill: Rajniti Prasad

New Delhi, Jan 1: RJD MP Rajniti Prasad today rubbished BJP's allegation that Lalu Prasad had "orchestrated" his action of tearing the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, saying his party chief had not tutored him to do so.

"Laluji had not tutored me to take any such action (tearing the Lokpal Bill)," he told PTI.

"There was no ring master behind my action...Whatever I did was an outcome of my emotional outbursts on the spur of the moment," the Rajya Sabha member said.

During the high drama shortly before midnight, the RJD chief was seated in the Lok Sabha members' gallery of the Upper House, calmly watching the scene.

An unrepentant Prasad said he would not allow passage of the bill in the House in future also if it did not incorporate amendments like defining the applicability of reservation for SC/ST/OBC, minority and women in the anti-graft panel and excluding Prime Minister from its ambit.

Asked if he would again tear the bill, he said, "My way of protest will depend on the situation at that time." As the MP justified his action, his party colleagues in the Upper House also supported him. Leader of RJD in Rajya Sabha Zabir Hussain said one has to see his action in the context of the situation.

"Not only Rajniti Prasad, but we all RJD representatives were angry over government's failure to explain if the minority community will get a place in the anti-graft panel. Prasad could not control his emotions," he said.

Hussain, who has served as Chairman of Bihar Legislative Council for a decade, said besides this is not for the first time that such an event has taken place in a legislative history.

RJD member Ramkripal Yadav, who was by the side of Prasad when he was creating uproar in Rajya Sabha on the bill, said, "There was no bad intention in Prasad's action."

Similar protests have been staged several times in Parliament and other Legislative Houses in the past too, he said.

PTI