Walkout by BJP over Kerala bypoll issue

BJP members waves newspapers and level allegations against the political parties of distributing pamphlets and putting up notices eulogising terrorists for electoral gains.

The BJP staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday attacking its political rivals for allegedly glorifying terrorists during their electoral campaign for the Thiruvambady Assembly constituency in north Kerala.

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In a high-decibel protest, BJP members waved newspapers and leveled allegations against the political parties of distributing pamphlets and putting up notices eulogising terrorists for electoral gains. The members, led by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, demanded that the government make a statement on the issue, but deputy chairman K Rahman Khan objected saying that a notice was mandatory.

BJP members stormed the well and raised slogans against their rivals accusing them of having links with terrorists. Reports emanating from Kerala have it that Saddam Hussein and Afzal Guru have become campaign icons for political parties as more than 40 per cent of the voters in the constituency are Muslims.

A newspaper had also reported that Muslim right outfits like the Jamaat-e-Islami, the PDP of Coimbatore serial blasts-accused Abdul Nasser Mahdani, and the Kanthapuram faction of the Sunnis were openly campaigning for a political party.

The Samajwadi Party and AIADMK attempted to make allegations against finance minister P Chidambaram in the Vedanta controversy but Khan did not permit that saying it was under the consideration of the Chairman.