NDA to boycott Railway Budget

The National Democratic Alliance will boycott the Railway Budget to be presented on July 6 by Lalu Prasad Yadav, as part of its ongoing campaign for the removal of "tainted ministers" from the United Progressive Alliance government. 
 
Former minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav speaking to Business Standard said: "We will boycott the Railway Budget." We would also discuss the matter with other NDA partners at a meting on July 5 for a final decision, he added. 
 
The NDA's plan, according to sources, is to stage a walkout a soon as Yadav stands up to present the budget. 
 
The railway minister is one of the prime targets of the campaign as he along with several other Rashtriya Janata Dal ministers in the UPA government have several criminal cases registered against them. 
 
"The Congress is not sensitive to the issue of tainted ministers and the NDA will boycott the Rail Budget to press for its demand to remove them," said Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Rajnath Singh at Muzzaffarnagar on Wednesday. 
 
According to BJP sources, while the party was clear that it would boycott Yadav the way the Congress-led Opposition had boycotted former Defence Minister George Fernandes after the Tehelka scam broke, they still had to discuss it with its NDA partners. 
 
But after Sharad Yadav's statement there remains no doubt that the BJP's decision will be supported. The move is significant keeping in mind the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. 
 
The matter did come up for discussion at a meeting of the NDA, attended by Leader of the Opposition LK Advani, BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu and NDA convener Fernandes. 
 
Meanwhile, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called a meeting with both the NDA parties and the UPA government to find a way to conduct at least some business in the House. 
 
The speaker found it difficult to get the vote of thanks to the President's Address cleared in the first session. 
 
He is even toying with the idea of telecasting live the proceedings of "zero hour" so that the fear of an adverse political reaction would keep MPs in their chairs and within bounds of decorum. 
 
The NDA's plan, according to sources is to stage a walkout a soon as Yadav stands up to present the Railway budget. This means that there are stormy times ahead for the Manmohan Singh government.

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