Over 50 BJP supporters hit the streets to protest against the allocation of a room for offering namaz in state Assembly and burnt effigies of chief minister Hemant Soren and Speaker Rabindranath Mahato near the district headquarters at Randhir Verma Chowk on Sunday.
Led by Dhanbad MLA Raj Sinha, the group assembled at the chowk barely 100 meter from the district headquarters in the morning in the presence of BJP district president (urban) Chandrashekhar Singh.
The leaders also accused the Speaker of acting at the behest of the ruling dispensation headed by Hemant and not allowing BJP leaders to raise important issues in the Assembly.
Talking to the media, Sinha said, “The allocation of a separate room for offering namaz is height of appeasement politics. The room has been allocated for only five Muslim MLAs who are also not five-time namazis, and remain busy in the Assembly even on Fridays.”
“We will also demand allocation of a room for Hindu legislators for reciting Hanuman Chalisa,” he said accusing the state government of going against majority Hindu sentiments.
Sinha claimed that soon people would join their protest and hit the streets against the state government's decision.
Sinha accused Speaker Mahato of acting in a partisan manner. "Whenever any question is asked by any Opposition leader he looks towards the chief minister as if to seek his permission for allowing the leader to complete his question.
“Why discussions are not allowed in the state Assembly on the complete failure of the Hemant Soren government on the issue of employment?”
Acting president of Congress Jaleshwar Mahto, during a felicitation function organised by the district unit of the Congress, however, accused the BJP of raking up irrelevant issues. “They have the habit of taking the name of Pakistan and holding it responsible for the misdeeds of their own... What is wrong in allocating a room for offering namaz? Who has prevented them from also demanding a room for holding a puja as the Assembly has no dearth of rooms,” he said.
