The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sought to re-unite the opposition by apologising on behalf of the seven Members of Parliament suspended for unruly behaviour and demanding that the government express regret for using marshals during the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill.
Opposition parties and those supporting the United Progressive Alliance government from outside like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party were united against it on the issue of price rise, spelling trouble for the Congress-led regime. However, this unity was broken when the government introduced the Women's Reservation Bill.
Reaching out to the SP, RJD and Janata Dal - United, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley apologised on behalf of the seven MPs who were suspended for unruly behaviour during the passage of the women's bill in the Upper House, and said their suspension should be revoked.
Sources said this had the desired effect with Rajniti Prasad (RJD) and Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) thanking Jaitley later for this gesture. BJP also expressed strong objection to the use of marshals in solidarity with these three parties.
"We want the government to apologise for bringing marshals in the House. We also want them to revoke the suspensions," Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lower House Sushma Swaraj asserted that the BJP was against the use of marshals in the Lok Sabha though it favoured the passage of the bill.
