NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav temporarily lost his cool inside Parliament on Wednesday after being denied time to speak on the student protest issue.
“Has there been a deal?” the angry SP chief asked Speaker Om Birla when he was not allowed to speak.
“The issue is about students, not Congress, BJP or SP. You allowed them to speak,” Yadav confronted the Speaker, pointing towards the Congress benches and the treasury side.
“What about us? Have they reached an understanding?” a visibly upset Yadav asked.
The Speaker then allowed the SP MP to speak.
While many interpreted Akhilesh’s angry outburst as sign of a rift with the Congress, the SP chief, later speaking to reporters, clarified that the entire opposition is united in demand for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
“I wanted to put SP’s viewpoint on the students’ issue, so I intervened,” he clarified, denying any confrontation with Congress’ KC Venugopal in the Lok Sabha.
Sources close to Akhilesh Yadav said that he used “deal” word for government and Speaker’s “understanding” and was not attacking the Congress.
