Ruckus forces adjournment of Parliament for 18th day

New Delhi: Ruckus prevailed in both Houses of Parliament on Monday as opposition parties and those from Tamil Nadu created noisy scenes, forcing their adjournment for the 18th straight day without transacting any substantial business.

While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day within about six minutes after it assembled in the morning, the Lok Sabha was adjourned due to the protests for the first time till Monday noon within four minutes after it had met and then for the day after the listed papers were laid.

Before adjourning the Lok Sabha for the day, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she was unable to take up the notices for no-confidence motion against the government, served by several opposition parties, as there was no order in the House.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition protests forced the adjournment of proceedings for the day without transaction of any business as members trooped into the Well and shouted slogans, drowning every other voice.

MPs belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP, TDP and parties from Tamil Nadu -- DMK and AIADMK, were in the Well even before Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu could settle down in his chair.

Unlike the past days when listed papers were allowed to be laid on the table peacefully, Naidu had to go through the exercise today amid chaos as members persisted with slogan shouting.

The Congress and the BSP led the charge against the government, accusing it of being "anti-dalit", in an apparent reference to the Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Members of the main opposition party also raised the issue of India's biggest bank fraud, alongside the TMC.

Tamil parties were demanding immediate constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, while members of the TDP and KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress held placards demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Naidu called the ministers to lay the listed papers., while warning the protestors that "the entire country is watching ... You are not going to achieve anything. You are making a mockery of parliamentary system." He said the Chair was ready to allow discussion on all the issues being raised by opposition parties, and even the government as well as the opposition were ready for it.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said important bills were listed for discussion in the last week of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament. The government, he said, was ready to discuss all issues. "I don't understand why, for small issues concerning them, they are not allowing the House to function," Goel said.

However, as the ruckus continued, the Chairman adjourned the proceedings for the day, barely six minutes after the House had assembled.

The proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted yet again for the 18th day today, amid slogan shouting by AIADMK members seeking early constitution of the Cauvery water management board. Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 noon during the Question Hour.