By IANS
New Delhi : There were two sets of protests outside parliament house Wednesday. MPs from Orissa demonstrated against the railway budget while Left members alleged discrimination in supply of food grain to Kerala.
Members of Orissa’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest near the Gandhi statue in the parliament complex, accusing Railway Minister Lalu Prasad of doling out “lollipops” to the state in his budget Tuesday.
The MPs said the railways division that covers much of Orissa provides 35 percent of the ministry’s revenue, but there was not a single new project for the region in the budget.
They said they would protest inside the house too.
The Left MPs – presenting a united front unlike Tuesday when those from West Bengal voiced their protest against the rail budget but those from Kerala expressed satisfaction – staged a sit-in at the main gate of parliament.
Led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), they alleged that the central government was playing politics regarding food allocation to Kerala.
The parliamentarians, including CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat, shouted slogans like “Don’t play politics with rice” and “Stop discrimination against Kerala”.
They demanded immediate restoration of food grain quota to the state, governed by the Left. Kerala’s food grain quota was cut down last year.