Cong MPs storm the well of the House during Rail budget session; PM says 'my heart bleeds'

NEW DELHI: When Railway Minister Mallikarjan Kharge presented the interim Railway Budget on Wednesday, the Lok Sabha virtually looked like a noisy railway platform thanks to the ruckus created by anti-Telangana members from Seemandhra side, mostly Congress MPs. Worse, five Congress ministers, including the Minister of State for Railways K Suryaprakash Reddy, were part of the shouting-brigade that stormed the well of the House in front of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, Parliamentaray Affairs Minister Kamal Nath etc.

BJP MPs led by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj sat in their seats, demonstrating to one and all that it was not the Opposition but Congress members who disrupted the railway budget and proceedings. Later, the Opposition chided the government for failing to control its MPs.

While not a word of the Railway Minister’s speech, cut short abruptly due to slogan-shouting, was audible in the din, even as Sonia Gandhi was seen scolding Congress MPs who entered the well of the House with placards. The PM later said, "My heart bleeds to see what is happening in the House. It is sad for democracy." PM’s Cabinet colleague, HRD Minister Pallam Raju, reacted by saying that Singh’s comment was unfair as ministers were expected to put up a ‘final battle’ against the bifurcation.

The ministers seen in the well were KS Rao, D Purandeshwari, Chiranjeevi and K Suryaprakash Reddy. Raju was seen encouraging them from the treasury benches. TDP MPs and YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy too were shouting slogans. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath condemned the incidents. "This is a very bad precedent for future Lok Sabhas," Nath told reporters outside the House.