Parliament condemns Mahto's killing, LS adjourned

New Delhi, Mar 6 (UNI) Parliament today condemned the assassination of JMM leader Sunil Mahto, with the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha demanding immediate dismissal of the Jharkhand government for its inability to protect the life of an MP.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after Speaker Somnath Chatterjee read out an obituary reference followed by observance of a one-minute silence by the members in memory of the Kurmi leader, who was gunned down by Naxalites at Baguria in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district on March 4.

In the obituary reference, the Speaker said Mahto was a social worker, who was assiduously involved in the uplift of tribals, and a pillar of the Jharkhand movement, who died young.

The Rajya Sabha completed its Question Hour and hurried through the process of completing the Special Mentions to allow Home Minister Shivraj Patil to make a suo motu statement detailing the killing.

The Centre, he said, had provided Rs 450 crore to Jharkhand to tackle the socio-economic problems under the Backward District Initiative but the state had utilised only Rs 348 crore.

This enraged not only the Opposition MPs but also Mr Santosh Bagrodia (Congress), who sought to know if this happened because of the Centre's ''red tapism''.

Mr Patil's claim that the naxal violence had declined by 6.15 per cent from 1608 in 2005 to 1509 was derided by BJP's Yashwant Sinha who alleged that the Home Minister was trying to soft-pedal naxal violene by hiding behind figures.

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