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LS adjourned twice over Ayodhya

The Opposition today forced two adjournments in the Lok Sabha over the Ayodhya issue. The members were demanding a clarification from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the statement made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta a few days back on the Ayodhya issue.

Speaking to press a few days after he replaced Kalyan Singh as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Gupta had said that Ayodhya may not be in the Union Government's agenda, but it was a top priority for the state government.

As soon as the Lok Sabha reassembled after the first adjourment at 1400 hrs, Madhavrao Scindia (Congress) sought an explanation from the prime minister about Gupta's statement. He was supported by Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Satyabrat Chaturvedi and some other Congress members.

The members said they were not satisfied with the response of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan that whatever clarification was sought in the House on the issue had been given by the prime minister.

Dr Laxmi Narayan Pandey, who was in the chair, said the parliamentary affairs minister had made the government's position clear and requested the members to allow proceedings of the House to continue.

Some Bharatiya Janata Party members alleged that the Congress had found another alibi to stall the proceedings of the House.

Earlier, the House was adjourned for one-and-a-half hours after some Congress members stalled proceedings saying that the prime minister must make a statement first.

UNI

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