Opposition disrupts Lok Sabha for straight third week

NEW DELHI: Vociferous protests by Opposition members led by the Congress continued in the Lok Sabha today as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan warned several of them of action if they did not stop displaying placards, forcing the adjournment of the House for almost two hours.

The noisy scenes began soon after the House assembled and expressed grief at the loss of lives and property in different parts of the country due to cyclone and floods.

When the Question Hour was taken up, over 30 members of the Congress trooped in to the Well, raising slogans and holding placards demanding resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues.

Members from SP, RJD and JD(U) too were in the Well with placards demanding that caste census data be made public, while some TRS members, also holding placards in the aisles, sought a separate High Court for Telangana.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, standing at his seat, was seen thumping the desk as his party members continued sloganeering in the Well.

As repeated pleas from the Speaker to the agitating members to put down their placards went unheeded, she named several of them, including Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev, Deepender Hooda, K C Venugopal and Rajiv Satav, and later warned them of action.

Amid noisy protests, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the government wanted the Question Hour to continue, after which the Speaker called out names of those whose questions had been listed for the day.

The Question Hour proceeded with some Ministers replying to certain questions, but most of could not be heard in the din.

Opposition members, especially from the Congress, have been protesting against the government over Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam since the Monsoon Session began last month.
When the House met for the Question Hour at noon, Congress members were up on their feet raising demand for the resignation of Swaraj and two other chief ministers.

Some of them also demanded the resignation of HRD Minister Smriti Irani on the row over her educational qualifications. Irani was present in the House at that time.

Soon after Chairman Hamid Ansari announced that he was taking up the Question Hour, Madhusudan Mistry (Cong) got up to raise a point of order questioning how Swaraj could make a statement without giving any notice, and sought its expunction from the records. However, he was not allowed to speak any further.

Jharna Das Baidya (CPI-M) got up to ask a question to the HRD Minister and she got up to table the answer. However, Baidya could not ask a supplementary question in the din.

Congress members created uproar and trooped into the Well raising slogans against Swaraj and held placards.

When they also started raising slogans like "HRD Minister istifa do" (HRD Minister resign), Ansari adjourned the House till 2 PM.