NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 22: Lok Sabha was today plunged into turmoil when a Samajwadi Party member menacingly moved towards Agriculture minister Nitish Kumar following a verbal duel between his leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Minister forcing an abrupt adjournment of the House.Agitated SP member from Etah, Devendra Singh Yadav, who rushed towards the treasury benches, was prevented by ruling party members from reaching Kumar, seated in the second row.The trouble arose during the fag end of question hour as Mulayam Singh stood up to plead the case of his party members who were demanding that the Centre take speedy steps to provide relief to the people in flood-affected areas of Jaunpur and Pratapgarh districts of Uttar Pradesh.Kumar was heard questioning Yadav's interruption when Speaker G M C Balayogi had called for the next question on the agenda. Kumar chided Yadav saying he had been a chief minister and a Central minister and should be aware of House regulations.Yadav retorted telling him that it was none of his business to teach him how to behave in the House.As the heated exchanges continued between Yadav and Kumar, SP members rushed to the well of the House. As if on cue, Devendra Singh Yadav angrily moved towards the Minister.Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was present in the House, was seen persuading ruling party members, who had moved to the front row and formed a barricade, to return to their seats.SP members were heard arguing with the Speaker right in front of his podium ignoring his repeated plea for restoring order in the House.Ruling party members, on the other hand, were vociferously questioning the behaviour of the SP member and wanted the Speaker to take serious note of it.With the din continuing, the Speaker abruptly adjourned the House till 1300 hours shortly after the question hour was over.Even after the adjournment, members from both sides were seen confabulating. Vajpayee was seen leaving the House after the adjournment.The Speaker deprecated in "strongest terms" the behaviour of Devendra Singh Yadav during question hour leading to abrupt adjournment and asked ministers also to exercise restraint.Giving his observations after the House reassembled following the adjournment, he said, "I am constrained to observe that such behaviour on the part of the member concerned was in derogation of the established norms of decent parliamentary behaviour."Balayogi said such incidents were not only a reflection on the parliamentary conduct of the member concerned but also eroded the dignity of the whole House.
