Rashtriya Janata Dal member of parliament Rajniti Prasad said that he "alone, is responsible for tearing the Lokpal bill in the Rajya Sabha" on December 29 while the house was debating on the merits of constitutional amendment.
"Nobody else should be held guilty for my actions," he told rediff.com on phone from his residence in Patna.
Asked if he had pre-planed his action, he said, "My action was spontaneous. When I found that there was no mention of reservations in appointments to be made under the Lokpal bill.
He denied the charge that he snatched the copy of the bill that was being used by V Narayanswami, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, who was replying to the debate on behalf of the government.
"I carried my own copy of the bill when I walked up to Narayanswami to find out about the status of reservation. It was that copy which I tore to express my resentment. Let me clarify that I did not act on behalf of anyone. Neither at the behest of the government nor any political leader," Prasad said while recounting the entire episode.
To a suggestion that by tearing the bill in Rajya Sabha he stole limelight from RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Prasad said that he was too small a figure to overshadow the great Lalu.
"Laluji is my mentor. I have learnt my politics from him. It is just a coincidence that he was present in the visitor's gallery when the incident took place, but that doesn't mean that he was there to see whether I do what he told me," he said.
"It was a spur of the moment action, and nobody else should be held responsible," said the 65-year-old advocate-turned-politician from Nalanda.
