BJP plans to put govt on the mat in Parliament

New Delhi, Feb 19: The

is not going to make it easy for the

government in the upcoming Budget Session. While their focus will be on the VVIP

deal scam, the party has also decided to put Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on the mat over his "Hindu terror" remark.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told newspersons that a protest march will be taken out through the national capital on Wednesday. Party chief Rajnath Singh is to lead the march that as per the plan will probably culminate at Shinde's residence.

The home minister drew the BJP's ire when he mentioned the term 'Hindu terrorism' during his speech at the Congress conclave that was held last month in Jaipur. Later Shinde averred that he had merely referred to the 'saffron terror' about which several media reports have already appeared.

However, he could not mollify the BJP with this clarification. "We will raise the issue in Parliament. Shinde is the Leader of Lok Sabha, does he think we are terrorists? Our demand is very emphatic. He has to apologise," Prasad said on Tuesday.

This matter would have been the main talking point during the Budget Session were it not for Italian investigators revealing that some middlemen and officials received kickbacks amounting to Rs 350 crore from European aerospace giant Finmeccanica. The Indian Air Force had signed a deal worth Rs 3,600 crore with the firm's subsidiary AgustaWestland for a total of 12 helicopters but only three have been received so far.

Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed the ruling coalition for its failure to cancel the contract. "There is a scam in this government before every session of Parliament. Earlier, it was the coal allocation scam and now the helicopter scam... The ministers in this government are speaking in different voices on the scam. While the defence minister is saying we will scrap the deal, the external affairs minister is against it," the BJP leader noted.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien is also likely to be targeted by the BJP since the Suryanelli rape survivor has repeated her allegation that he sexually abused her on Feb 19, 1996.

Besides the BJP, leaders of the CPI-M and other parties have urged the Congress high command to ensure that he quits at least before the Upper House takes up the anti-rape bill for discussion.

OneIndia News