Housewarming on Day Two

It was a stormy day in both the Houses today as the Opposition put the Government on the mat over various scandals. If in Lok Sabha it was t...

It was a stormy day in both the Houses today as the Opposition put the Government on the mat over various scandals. If in Lok Sabha it was the attacks on Biharis in Assam which dominated the proceedings, in Rajya Sabha it was the Judeo tape case. Lok Sabha members from Bihar stalled the proceedings, forcing an adjournment of the House twice. Speaker Manohar Joshi first adjourned the House till 12.30 pm, followed by a second adjournment by Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed till 2 pm.

The trouble began soon after the House met. Samata Party members Prabhunath Singh and Raghunath Jha and expelled RJD member Rajesh Ranjan protested against the killings of Biharis in Assam and demanded an inquiry.

Mohanbhai Delkar, Independent member from Daman, and Dahyabhai Patel, representing Dadra-Nagar Haveli, joined the protest in the well, but for a different cause. They demanded action against the culprits responsible for the Daman bridge collapse and death of 30 children .

Prabhunath said police remained a 8216;8216;silent spectator8217;8217; when Biharis were killed in Assam and their property was looted. He said: 8216;8216;The Assam Chief Minister is involved.8217;8217; This led to protests from the Congress benches. CPIM8217;s Somnath Chatterjee wanted to know why the Government was silent on the issue. 8216;8216;Why is it not coming out with a statement?8217;8217; he asked.

Joshi said the House was supreme and 8216;8216;no one member8217;s issue can take precedence over the majority.8217;8217; He said he had received several notices of adjournment motion on the Assam issue and corruption. He had no objection to the Business Advisory Committee deciding on what issue to take up first and that its meeting was scheduled in the afternoon. As the din continued, he adjourned the House.

In Rajya Sabha, the Congress tried to press for adjournment of the question hour and wanted the Prime Minister to speak on the issue. It had given a formal notice for adjournment which was not entertained by the chairman.

Congress MP Pranab Mukherjee said 14 days had passed since the sensational tapes came to light and yet the Government has not said a word on it. He said since the Prime Minister is responsible for inducting or firing ministers, he the PM owes an explanation to the country.

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CPIM8217;s Nilotpal Basu raised the issue of reported revelations by the CVC about the misuse of funds of the PSUs. The Opposition wasn8217;t satisfied with Finance Minister Jaswant Singh8217;s reply that though the Government is ready for a debate on the issue, he cannot promise anything on the behalf of the Prime Minister.

As the BJP members began interrupting the Opposition, it soon became a free-for-all. The chairman adjourned the House within 25 minutes of its opening. He had to adjourn it again later as the Opposition did not seem in the mood to allow the House to run its normal course.