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New Delhi, Feb. 26: Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today committed in Rajya Sabha that he would make a statement on Assam in the House tomorrow.
On Friday, Birendra Prasad Baishya and fellow AGP MP Kumar Deepak Das had disrupted the proceedings before a debate on the Hyderabad twin blasts.
Baishya had been pacified with an assurance from parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath that there would be a discussion on the death of 24 people in Assam’s Goalpara district earlier this month during the panchayat polls.
This morning, during question hour, Baishya repeated his plea and minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Shukla had to intervene to assure the Assam MPs.
When there was no response till afternoon, Baishya again appealed to chairman Hamid Ansari to direct the government.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Shinde were both in the House then.
“Twenty-four people have been killed by police,” alleged Baishya, and demanded an explanation from the government.
“The Prime Minister is also an MP from Assam so the government should respond,” the AGP MP said.
Kamal Nath argued that the statement had not been made as the scheduling had to be done by the business advisory committee of the House.
BJP deputy leader of the Opposition, Ravishankar Prasad, then prodded the treasury benches.
Prasad said the government should not make excuses and instead, make a statement on Assam.
Shinde was seen telling Kamal Nath that he would indeed make a statement in the House tomorrow.
The statement and subsequent calls for clarification are bound to bring up the issue of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council and the controversy over the panchayat elections in the region.
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