Oppn protests force 2 adjournments of RS till noon

Slogan-shouting Congress and AIADMK members trooped into the Well, forcing Deputy Chairman P K Kurien to first adjourn the House till 1130 hours and again then till noon.

Soon after the House mourned the passing away of Swaminarayan sect head Pramukh Swami Shastri Narayan Swarup Das, TMC's Derek O'Brien was up on his feet.

As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed O'Brien to make his submission, slogan shouting AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

They however went back to their seats after Kurien assured that he will allow their leader A Navaneethakrishnan to speak after the TMC leader.

All hell broke lose when Derek asked where the Prime Minister was when the House discusses hardships and inconvience caused by the decision to withdraw old 500 and 1000 rupee notes.

"The person who made the (demonetisation) announcement at 8 o'clock on November 8, where is he," he said.

Treasury benches countered him vociferously with even Ministers including I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rising to counter the demand.

At this point, Congress members trooped into the Well of the House shouting "Pradhan Mantri Jawab do" (Prime Minister, reply)."

Kurien said the discussion on demonetisation was going on smoothly. "If Finance Minister is available, that is enough," he said.

The discussion, which was initiated after suspending listed business of the day yesterday, could be resumed if the House is in order, he said. "We can start discussion now," he said.

At this point, AIADMK members also trooped into the Well shouting slogans, forcing Kurien to adjourn the House till 1130 hours.