 |
| Wednesday, December 6, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
LS, RS adjourned over Ayodhya issue NEW DELHI, Dec 5 — The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day after an unyielding Opposition with the Congress in the vanguard demanded the resignation of Home Minister L.K. Advani and two other Union Ministers chargesheeted by the CBI in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Minutes after question hour, both Houses were thrown into turmoil as determined Congress members joined by the Left Front, the Samajwadi Party, the AIADMK and other opposition parties pressed for the resignation of Mr Advani, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Uma Bharati. Congress and Samajwadi Party members rushed to the well of the Lok Sabha raising slogans. In the Rajya Sabha, Congress members led by Mr Suresh Pachauri said the three ministers had no “moral right” to continue in office as they had been charged under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code. They were countered by equally vociferous BJP members including Mr S.S. Ahluwalia, who raised slogans which could not be heard in the din. The Congress members were joined by the members of the Left parties, the AIADMK, the TMC and other opposition groups while DMK member Viduthalai Virumbi sought to bail out the ruling coalition benches. As the slogan shouting continued for more than 10 minutes, Rajya Sabha Chairman Krishan Kant adjourned the House for the day. Mr Krishan Kant’s repeated entreaties for order went unheeded. “There should be some order in the House. I am unable to hear anything that members are saying,” the Chairman observed before adjourning the House for the day. The proceedings in the Lok Sabha were no different. Despite repeated pleas by Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi to return to their seats and maintain order, Congress members continued with their lung power demanding the resignation of the three ministers. Finding the members in an unrelenting mood, Mr Balayogi adjourned the House for the day without transacting any legislative business. Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were stalled for the second successive day while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned yesterday after condoling the death of Chunni Lal, a sitting member from Allahabad.  |
||||||
|
Advani must quit, says Congress NEW DELHI, Dec 5 — Maintaining that the BJP had two set of rules for its ministers, the Congress today said it would agitate both inside and outside the Parliament till its demand for discussion under Rule 182 was accepted. Demanding an answer from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said two set of rules seemed to prevail in the BJP. While Mr Hiren Pathak was asked to resign a few days back after being charge-sheeted in a murder case, Mr Advani and his colleagues had refused to quit, despite demands from various parties and their being charged in the Babri Mosque demolition case by the court of the Additional Sessions Judge in Lucknow. Mr Azad said according to the charges framed against the ministers, the conspiracy started in 1990 when Mr Advani embarked on a “rath yatra”. “This culminated in the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, he said. “How can principal conspirator in the case be the country’s Home Minister”, he asked. Asked if the demand for resignation of ministers was being made on the eve of the anniversary of the Babri Mosque demolition, he said there was no such connection. Mr Azad said a big blow had been delivered to the traditions of secularism on December 6. Over 1,100 lives were lost in the post-demolition riots and property worth several crores was damaged in various parts of the country. As a reaction to the demolition, Mumbai was rocked by blasts, Mr Azad said, adding that the incidents also put to inconvenience foreign and domestic travellers, many of whom cancelled their tours. Asked if the Congress was giving a clean chit to former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao during whose regime the demolition had occurred, Mr Azad said the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, had given an undertaking that nothing would happen to the structure. Senior BJP leaders had also taken responsibility on behalf of the then UP Government that no harm would come to the structure, Mr Azad said. The party, he said, had also given a notice in the Rajya Sabha for discussion on its demand for the minister’s resignation. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
