New Delhi, March 19
Parliamentary decorum touched a new low today as the BJP and Congress members nearly came to blows in the Rajya Sabha on the Nandigram violence issue.
The Nandigram issue rocked the Lok Sabha as well. As a result, the issue forced adjournments of both houses of parliament.
For the fourth successive day today, the opposition stalled proceedings in the elders’ house over police firing in Nandigram (West Bengal). The situation took an ugly turn when finance minister P. Chidambaram started reading out a statement on the debate on union budget proposals for 2007-08.
After the minister was half way through, BJP member S.S. Ahluwalia got up from his seat and went to Chidambaram’s seat objecting to his reading out the statement. Ahluwalia wanted that the minister should lay the statement on the table of the house instead of reading it out.
Ahluwalia got prompt support from other BJP members who trooped to the well of the house. The BJP members shouted slogans against the UPA government and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. They called the West Bengal Chief Minister a “killer” and a “criminal”.
This prompted Congress members to come to the aid of Chidambaram. For 10 minutes, the treasury and opposition members pushed and shoved one another.
Congress members heckled Ahluwalia and prevented him from snatching papers from Chidambaram. As the
ruckus continued, the house passed the appropriation bill and the appropriation (vote on account) bill, 2007, the banking regulation (amendment) bill, 2007 and the national institute of pharmaceutical bill, 2007.
With the passage in the Rajya Sabha, the banking regulation (amendment) bill has got the Parliament’s nod as the Lok Sabha has already passed it. The bill replaces an ordinance promulgated on January 23 this year.
After this, deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan ordered a 10-minute adjournment of the house, hoping that normalcy would be restored. However, the opposition members continued their slogan-shouting even during the interlude. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh walked in during this period and was seen engaged in discussions with fellow party members. The din continued even after the house reassembled and the chair adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow.
The Nandigram issue took its toll in the Lok Sabha too. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after passing three major bills in just 15 minutes amid opposition’s din over the Nandigram
issue.
