BJP MPs boycott Lok Sabha

With black band tied across their mouth, scores of NDA parliamentarians stayed away from the lower house and staged a sit-in demonstration for an hour in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue opposite the parliament's main gate.

The opposition lawmakers have accused Chatterjee of "trampling" their right and "behaving in a partisan manner" during post-lunch session in Lok Sabha Monday.

The decision to boycott the Lok Sabha was taken at a meeting of NDA leaders here Monday evening. "If he (the Speaker) thinks he can do without the opposition, let him carry on the proceedings without us", BJP parliamentary party spokesman V K Malhotra had told reporters after the meeting.