On Wednesday afternoon Lok Sabha was caught in an unexpected fracas as Samajwadi Party (SP) member Yashvir Singh, MP from Nagina, snatched the copy of quota in promotion bill from Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayansamy. This invited an unexpected reaction from Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who tried to stop Singh from snatching away the papers.
Recounting the incident, Narayansamy said: ‘Before tabling the bill, I was reading the provisions. The SP member came from the Congress side. I was taken aback. He had no business to snatch away the bill. It is unfortunate and unparliamentary. If they (the SP) have an objection, they can debate and vote against it.’
‘Congress president prevented us from getting into a scuffle. It was wrong for the SP member to snatch away the papers. It is a matter of privilege. Madam’s (Sonia Gandhi) reaction shows how dedicated she is to this bill,’ said Narayanasamy.
Storming out of Parliament after the incident, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with party members including Singh, told reporters: ‘The Congress has insulted our MP. Our MP was beaten up and now the channel have deleted (blacked out) the clipping. What was done to our MP is insulting.’ Yadav stressed the entire incident was pre-planned. ‘The charges against us are baseless,’ he said. About the party’s plan when the bill is taken up on Thursday, Yadav said, ‘Our struggle will continue. This is an unconstitutional bill. The Congress is forcefully trying to bring it.’
Unaffected by the SP’s antics in Parliament, the government will be taking up the bill on Thursday again. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said, ‘The incident is highly deplorable. Never in my 32 years in the Lok Sabha have I seen such an incident where a political party disagrees and uses methods which disrespects Parliament and abuses parliamentary processes. It is a sad day for parliamentary democracy.’
The lower House saw continuous protests before the Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, which provides for quota in promotions for SCs and STs in government jobs was taken up for consideration, with SP members storming the Well against it. After the House reassembled at noon after an adjournment soon after Question Hour began, SP members trooped into the Well raising slogans: ‘Promotion mein aarakshan, nahi chalega, nahi chalega (we do not want reservation in promotions)’.
Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House till 2 pm. This Bill, which was passed by Rajya Sabha on Monday, was to be brought up for consideration in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Recounting the incident, Narayansamy said: ‘Before tabling the bill, I was reading the provisions. The SP member came from the Congress side. I was taken aback. He had no business to snatch away the bill. It is unfortunate and unparliamentary. If they (the SP) have an objection, they can debate and vote against it.’
‘Congress president prevented us from getting into a scuffle. It was wrong for the SP member to snatch away the papers. It is a matter of privilege. Madam’s (Sonia Gandhi) reaction shows how dedicated she is to this bill,’ said Narayanasamy.
Storming out of Parliament after the incident, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with party members including Singh, told reporters: ‘The Congress has insulted our MP. Our MP was beaten up and now the channel have deleted (blacked out) the clipping. What was done to our MP is insulting.’ Yadav stressed the entire incident was pre-planned. ‘The charges against us are baseless,’ he said. About the party’s plan when the bill is taken up on Thursday, Yadav said, ‘Our struggle will continue. This is an unconstitutional bill. The Congress is forcefully trying to bring it.’
Unaffected by the SP’s antics in Parliament, the government will be taking up the bill on Thursday again. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said, ‘The incident is highly deplorable. Never in my 32 years in the Lok Sabha have I seen such an incident where a political party disagrees and uses methods which disrespects Parliament and abuses parliamentary processes. It is a sad day for parliamentary democracy.’
The lower House saw continuous protests before the Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, which provides for quota in promotions for SCs and STs in government jobs was taken up for consideration, with SP members storming the Well against it. After the House reassembled at noon after an adjournment soon after Question Hour began, SP members trooped into the Well raising slogans: ‘Promotion mein aarakshan, nahi chalega, nahi chalega (we do not want reservation in promotions)’.
Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House till 2 pm. This Bill, which was passed by Rajya Sabha on Monday, was to be brought up for consideration in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.