Opposition demands Gujarat minister’s resignation

Opposition parties stalled work in India’s Parliament today, demanding the resignation of Gujarat state’s chief minister for failing to stop the recent bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims.

The national Intelligence Bureau said today that 833 people were killed in the western state. Most of the victims were Muslim.

As Parliament reopened after a three-week recess, opposition MPs from more than a dozen different political parties shouted slogans, blaming Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s party for the violence in Gujarat.

The state’s chief minister belongs to Vajpayee’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Deputy speaker PM Sayeed adjourned the house until the afternoon. It was unlikely that normal business would resume when MPs reassembled.

The main opposition Congress party has already threatened that it would block proceedings in Parliament until Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was dismissed.

Human rights groups and opposition parties have accused Modi and his administration of doing little to stop Hindu rioters from killing hundreds of Muslims, destroying their businesses and leaving tens of thousands of them homeless.

Hindu militants went on the rampage after a Muslim crowd set a train on fire on February 27, killing 60 Hindu activists.

Two key allies of Vajpayee - the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamool Congress - have also demanded Modi’s dismissal. Vajpayee, however, rejected the demands last week, risking a crisis for his 22 party coalition.

The governing coalition’s survival in the 545 seat lower house of Parliament depends on the support of these two parties, who together have 37 MPs.

However, the parties have not said they would withdraw from Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance.