First day hints at stormy session

Despite Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s early efforts to prevent a repeat of the Monsoon Session washout, the Lok Sabha got off to a storm...

Despite Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s early efforts to prevent a repeat of the Monsoon Session washout, the Lok Sabha got off to a stormy start today.

Unruly scenes, a walkout, sloganeering, storming of the Well and an adjournment punctuated the proceedings at the Lok Sabha. The flash point came during Zero Hour when RJD members, waving copies of newspapers, demanded a discussion on the allegations levelled by Gauri Advani, L.K. Advani’s former daughter-in-law, against the BJP president. The Speaker rejected their demand and said they could take up the matter in his chamber.

As the RJD members remained on their feet, the BJP members walked into the Well of the House. Amid sloganeering, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings 15 minutes ahead of lunch break.

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Prior to this, BSP members had held up Question Hour, demanding a dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh. The reason: Arrest of their party colleague Mohammad Tahir.

The Speaker firmly told them to get back to their seats or face suspension. Water Resources Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi walked up to the BSP members and persuaded them to return to their seats.

The NDA members staged a walkout to protest against the Government’s failure to check price rise. BJP deputy leader V.K. Malhotra contended that the prices of essential commodities had gone up by 30 per cent during UPA rule.

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta claimed that petro prices had been hiked to mobilise additional revenue but the Government was taxing the common man and not those who were spending Rs 250 crore on marriages. He demanded ‘‘a total roll-back’’ of the hike.

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