Bihar, RSS issues paralyse both Houses of Parliament

NEW DELHI, MARCH 10: Business in Parliament remained paralysed today on the twin issues of RSS and Bihar with Opposition accusing the NDA ...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 10: Business in Parliament remained paralysed today on the twin issues of RSS and Bihar with Opposition accusing the NDA of indulging in "horse-trading" in the state where Nitish Kumar government is facing a trial of strength in the Assembly.

The Lok Sabha proceedings remained stalled for the eleventh consecutive day as the Opposition and Treasury benches clashed over the issue of RSS after K Yerrannaidu who was in the chair ruled that the earlier two notices on the RSS issue had become infructuous under Rule 184 and Rule 193 after the Gujarat Government re-imposed the ban on its employees participating in RSS activities.

However, he said two other notices pertaining to the activities of RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal and the withdrawal of publication of two volumes of "Towards Freedom" by eminent historians of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) were under consideration of the Speaker.

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But, this failed to pacify the Opposition with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav demanding time for discussion on the issue today itself which was strongly objected to by BJP members leading to uproarious scenes with Samajwadi members storming the well of the House on more than one occasion.

Rajya Sabha too saw noisy scenes with a determined Opposition demanding immediate discussion on Bihar issue forcing the chairman to adjourn the House for the day within minutes of its assembling.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 1400 hours within minutes of its assembling as Opposition members raised a furore on Bihar alleging that there were reports of NDA government "indulging in horse-trading" with Kamal Nath (Cong) displaying newspaper clippings of the offers to non-NDA MLAs.

Soon after the House re-assembled for the post-lunch session, the Opposition raised the Bihar issue again and subsequently agreed to the chair’s request for tabling of papers.

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Thereafter, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) raised the issue of "horse-trading," and demanded recall of Bihar Governor V C Pande.

In the meantime, some Samajwadi Party members trooped into the well protesting against their leader Mulayam Singh Yadav not being allowed to speak by the Treasury benches.

Madan Lal Khurana (BJP) said the Opposition had not allowed normal functioning of the House since February 23 and he be allowed to initiate discussion on the motion of thanks on President’s address.

When Yadav got up to speak, Treasury benches were on their feet protesting for not being allowed to speak.

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A visibly annoyed Khurana refused to yield saying that he had not been allowed to speak on President’s address. He was supported by his party colleagues to which Opposition took strong exception with Dasmunshi saying, "How can you (Khurana) dictate to me. You are forcibly stopping me."

As repeated pleas by the chair for order went unheeded Yerrannaidu adjourned the House for the day.