NEW DELHI, 4 May 2005 — A day after voting on the national budget, the opposition renewed its boycott of Parliament yesterday demanding the government sack Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for alleged embezzlement of government funds.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee appealed to National Democratic Alliance chief Atal Behari Vajpayee to reconsider the decision.

The opposition stuck to its demand for Lalu’s resignation despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh firmly rejecting it, saying the charges against him have yet to be proved.

At a meeting chaired by Vajpayee, the NDA decided to renew the boycott to protest against the United Progressive Alliance government’s “hostile and vindictive” attitude toward it. The opposition said it was outrageous that Lalu continues to be in the federal Cabinet “despite charges being framed against him and the Supreme Court passing strictures” on the income tax issue.

The NDA said it would review its boycott decision on a day-to-day basis.

Opposition parties belonging to the NDA, headed by the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party, have blocked Parliament proceedings since April 25 when a judge in Bihar charged Lalu and 68 others with allegedly siphoning off nearly a billion rupees meant for purchasing cattle fodder in the early 1990s. Lalu, who was the state’s elected head at the time, has denied any wrongdoing.

Opposition leaders said they attended Parliament on Monday in order not to be accused of shirking their responsibilities. However, the BJP could not ignore the charges of corruption against Lalu, said Sushma Swaraj, a top party leader.

“Our leaders are being humiliated. The leader of the opposition is not allowed to speak” in Parliament, Swaraj said. “If we are not allowed to raise the issues, what’s the point in remaining inside. We may as well remain outside and raise them.”

“As the main opposition party, the BJP-led NDA alliance cannot close our eyes to the corruption charges,” Swaraj, who is deputy leader of the NDA, said.

The current session of Parliament ends May 13.

The opposition has accused the government of refusing to sack Lalu because of his party’s importance to its survival in Parliament. But the former BJP-led government, which lost office last year, refused to dismiss ministers facing charges when it was in power.

A politician in India is disqualified from office only if convicted of a serious crime. Many lawmakers facing charges ranging from corruption to murder serve in Parliament and state legislatures while awaiting judgment in India’s clogged legal system.

Since taking power last May, Manmohan has come under repeated attack over the appointment of ministers facing criminal charges.

Last year, Coal and Mines Minister Shibu Soren resigned after a court ordered his arrest on charges involving a 1975 mob killing of 11 people in Bihar.

The railway minister’s party ruled Bihar for nearly 15 years until losing state elections in February.

— Additional input from agencies