New Delhi: Left parties today stayed away from the Lok Sabha during the concluding part of the Parliament session to protest "tactics" of Congress and BJP to "kill democracy" by not allowing discussion on key issues.

The Left members staged a dharna at the stairs of the main entrance of Parliament and the boycott of the House also had a message for Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who is not on the best of terms with his former colleagues.

"When the House is not being run as per rules then there is an appropriate message," a Left leader, who declined to be identified, said.

CPI(M) leader Basudev Acharia said so many important bills were passed without any discussion today which is not a good sign for democracy. This has never happened in Parliament history, he said.

Another CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim felt that a "restrictive democracy" was being practised with bills being passed without any debate and discussion in the wake of the BJP and the Congress being "hand in glove".

He said the Left parties wanted debates on several key issues including Naxalite violence and the effect of the global meltdown on the Indian economy like lay-offs, but those could not be held due to the "new game" between the two major parties.

He said a supplementary list of business was brought at 1400 hours and several bills were passed without discussion.
Source : PTI