By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Friday that it will stall parliament Monday too if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not explain why Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has not quit over the IPL row.
“The BJP demands that the prime minister, after returning from Brazil, should explain to parliament why Tharoor has not resigned so far,” party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Accusing Tharoor of misusing his office for business purposes and personal gains, Prasad asked why was an aide of the minister (Jacob Joseph) present at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
The charges have been denied by Tharoor, who could not read out a prepared statement in the Lok Sabha Thursday because of the din caused by opposition MPs.
“In the statement tabled in parliament, Tharoor doesn’t say (about) his role as a mentor of the team,” Prasad added.
The furore over Tharoor saw both the houses being adjourned till Monday.
Earlier in the day, the BJP’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gopinath Munde, threatened not to let parliament function till Tharoor resigned as the minister.
“Why should we listen to his statement? He should quit. We will not allow the house to function till he quits,” thundered Munde.
The opposition has accused Tharoor of meddling in IPL franchise business and ensuring that close friend Sunanda Pushkar gets sweat equity worth nearly Rs.70 crore in a company that is part of the consortium which got IPL Kochi franchise.