NDA to protest in 'silence' in Lok Sabha today

The NDA decides to remain "silent" in the Lok Sabha in protest against Speaker referring the cases of 32 MPs, mostly from the BJP, to the Privileges Committee.

The Opposition NDA on Monday decided to remain "silent" in the Lok Sabha in protest against Speaker Somnath Chatterjee referring the cases of 32 MPs, mostly from the BJP, to the Privileges Committee for their "unruly behaviour".

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The decision to adopt "soft" protest mode was taken at a meeting of NDA leaders chaired by leader of Opposition LK Advani in New Delhi.

BJP Deputy leader in Lok Sabha, VK Malhotra said, "Opposition MPs will remain silent in the Lok Sabha throughout the day and a meeting will be held tomorrow morning to decide the protest strategy."

"In fact, we will meet every day to decide the strategy," he told reporters after the meeting.

Sources said the Opposition alliance does not want to resort to a hard approach on the first day itself. "We are adopting a Gandhian way of protest. Let's see how it works out," a senior NDA leader said.

In a rare action, Chatterjee has referred to the Privileges Committee cases of as many as 32 Lok Sabha members mainly belonging to the opposition for "disorderly conduct" in the House on April 24 after his repeated plea to agitating members had fell on deaf ears.

The opposition members had stormed the well shouting slogans against the government for its failure to contain price rise.

Members whose cases have been referred to the Privileges Committee for "examination, investigation and report" include several BJP members such as Shahnawaz Hussain, PS Gadhavi, MA Kharabela Swain, Kishan Singh Sangwan and Kiran Maheswari.