Janata Dal MPs quit Lok Sabha over MNS issue

Five Janata Dal (U) Lok Sabha members from Bihar put in their papers yesterday to protest against violence inflicted on north Indians in Maharashtra.
The MPs are Prabhunath Singh, George Fernandes, Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Kailash Baitha and Meena Singh.
Earlier on Thursday, JD(U) parliamentary party leader Prabhunath Singh declared that the party MPs would give their resignations to Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday.
But, with Somnath Chatterjee admitted to hospital with a chest ailment, the resignations were submitted to the LS secretary general.
Announcing the decision, Prabhunath Singh said that there was no option left before his party but asking its LS members to resign as the Maharashtra government was "patronising" those involved in such attacks and the central government was "silent" on the issue.
"The decision was taken as no action was taken against the culprits even after an all-party delegation of Bihar MPs met PM Manmohan Singh a few days back," Singh said.
The decision to quit came after RJD claimed on Tuesday that around 75 percent of the party's MPs and MLAs had sent their resignations to party chief Lalu Prasad and the rest would follow suit.