New Delhi: The NDA's cold war with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee appeared to have cooled off on Thursday after a series of meetings between senior Opposition leaders and the Speaker, in which the NDA leaders are believed to have put forth their grievances over his style of running the House.
On his part, Chatterjee however rejected the charge of bias and double-standards levelled against him by BJP-led NDA.
The Speaker has been under attack from the opposition this week and the BJP-led alliance had announced a boycott of the Speaker's meetings with political parties and of the Business Advisory Committee as a mark of protest against him.
During the meeting, Chatterjee told the NDA leaders that he cannot accept their charges as he has been in Parliament for 30 years, including in the Opposition for several years. Chatterjee is learnt to have told the NDA leaders that there cannot be such a charge as the first person he has scolded after becoming the Speaker was a member of the Left Front.
On the Oppostion charges that he scolds them, the Speaker is understood to have told them the he behaves in the same manner with everyone. Chatterjee also said that the NDA leaders should have approached him instead of going to the media with the allegations.
Even though the Speaker invited the Opposition leaders for talks despite holding that he had no issue with them, the strains did reflect in the functioning of the House on Thursday with BJP Deputy leader V K Malhotra putting up a stinging query as to who would entertain complaints against the presiding officer.
This evoked a sharp reaction from Chatterjee, who said he was the target.
The Question Hour also saw the Speaker facing the ire of BJP's Kharabela Swain, who alleged that the Opposition was being deliberately denied an opportunity to put supplimentaries, drawing quick rejection from Chatterjee.
(With agency inputs)
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