George commends Speaker for his handling statement controversy

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) NDA Convenor and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today thanked Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for the way he had handled the turbulence in the House surrounding his yesterday's statement that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would have been shot in the head in China for ''bluffing'' to the nation over the 123 nuclear deal with the United States.

Expressing his gratitude to the Speaker for dealing with the situation created by the treasury benches, Mr Fernandes in a letter to Mr Chatterjee recalled how how he had to face the campaign 'filled with lies' for almost six years when he was the Defence Minister in the NDA Government.'' The Congress President had incited her 'shouting brigade' to shout slogans like 'Kafan chor kursi chodh'. The Congress President knew she was lying but carried on with those lies and now the same people are seeking apology for an 'inciting statement' against the Prime Minister. No one reading my statement in its entirety including the Prime Minister himself will come to such a conclusion," Mr Fernandes said.

Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha stood adjourned after the ruling benches vociferously demanded an apology for hurting the honour of the Prime Minister. Several UPA MPs came close to the well protesting against the insinuations made against the Prime Minister and demanded that they would not agree to anything less than an apology from Mr Fernandes.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi had urged the House to unanimously adopt a resolution condemning his statement if Mr Fernandes refused to apologise.

Mr Chatterjee said the Prime Minister should be given proper respect by all but said he had ''no control'' over any statement made outside the House and could not force the Member to apologise.

UNI