New Delhi, August 8
Seeking the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, indicted by CAG in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam, the Opposition BJP today forced a day-long adjournment of both Houses of Parliament.

With that, the Lok Sabha has lost 36 per cent of its productive time to disruptions in the first six days of the monsoon session while the Rajya Sabha has lost 47 per cent. Of the 120 listed questions in each House, 14 were answered in the LS and 18 in the RS.

Today, both Houses presented a similar picture as they met for Question Hour. Amid frenzied slogans, “Ab to yeh spasht hai… Sheila dikshit brasht hai (It’s now clear that Sheila Dikshit is corrupt)” by BJP members, the sixth day the session was washed out with Speaker Meira Kumar and Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourning proceedings first at 11 am and then for the day.

While the Opposition sought Sheila’s ouster, the UPA rubbished the demand saying that if CAG indictments were to be a yardstick, other CMs it had earlier cornered -- like Nitish Kumar in Bihar; Mayawati in UP and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Uttarakhand — must also go. The government defended Sheila by pointing to contradictions in the CAG’s CWG report which in part lauds the Delhi Government for considerably transforming the city and in part holds the CM of the same state responsible for lapses.

Back in Parliament, ruckus began when Question Hours commenced in both houses despite the BJP’s notices to adjourn them and discuss Sheila’s role in the CWG splurge. In the Lok Sabha, former finance minister and BJP’s Hazaribagh MP Yashwant Sinha gave another notice against Sports Minister Ajay Maken, accusing him of breach of privilege of the House. Maken had last week told Parliament that Suresh Kalmadi had been appointed the CWG Organising Committee chief by the NDA — something Sinha slammed today.

“Our objection is to the impression Maken gave as though the NDA appointed Kalmadi as the OC chief. He highlighted some facts and hid some others. He didn’t tell Parliament that the controversial updated bid document ostensibly dated December 2003 surfaced only in September 2004,” Sinha told reporters later. Maken said outside Parliament that he stood by his statement and would defend it when the House debated the same tomorrow.