Mamata bashing unites BJP, Left in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed rare unity between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties with both attacking Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee over her rally in Lalgarh.

Addressing a rally at the Maoist stronghold of Lalgarh in West Bengal on Monday, Banerjee condemned "the manner" in which Maoist spokesperson Cherukiri Rajkumar, alias Azad, was "killed" in Andhra Pradesh last month. She was virtually echoing the Left wing rebels' allegation that he was gunned down in a staged shootout on July 2.

When deputy leader of the BJP in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde tried to raise the issue during question hour, Trinamool Congress MPs vigorously protested, prompting the Left party MPs to support Munde.

There was a heated exchange of words between Munde, who was also supported by his party MPs, and Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay.

Bandyopadhyay charged that the Left and the BJP were in alliance.

As the uproar continued, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said: "They (the opposition) do not want question hour to run."

With Congress MPs on their feet demanding the smooth functioning of question hour, Bansal pointed out that "Munde has not give notice" to raise the issue.

Speaker Meira Kumar pacified an agitated Munde, saying: "The issue may kindly raise during the zero hour."