Chandigarh, September 6
Amid acrimonious scenes, 29 Opposition members of the Haryana Assembly were named and suspended for the rest of the session for “irresponsible behaviour” on the opening day today.

They were demanding a statement from Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on the alleged Rs 5 crore-bribe sought by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji for getting a Change of Land Use (CLU) certificate from the government for a Gurgaon plot on NH-8. A video CD of the same was also shown at a press conference addressed by INLD’s Abhay Chautala earlier in the day.

Immediately after obituary references, Opposition members were on their feet demanding a statement from Hooda. Treasury benches, too, erupted in retaliation though the claims of both sides were lost in the ensuing din.

Meanwhile, former minister and Geetika suicide case accused Gopal Kanda, out on bail to attend the proceedings, made a quiet entry into the House and sat next to former minister Savitri Jindal.

He watched the chaos, almost thankful it took the attention off him.

While the INLD continued to press for its demands vociferously and the Congress countered it, the Bharatiya Janta Party, too, joined the INLD chorus that peaked with anti-government slogans.

Speaker Kuldeep Sharma unsuccessfully urged the Opposition to allow question hour and raise their issue in zero hour. Though he adjourned proceedings for 15 minutes, the uproar continued after the House met again -- the Opposition adamant on its stance and the treasury benches committed to drowning the former’s demands. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, too, pointed out that question hour could not be disrupted in this fashion and one party could not hold the entire House to ransom, but to no avail.

Following this, Sharma adjourned the House a second time and invited INLD’s Ashok Arora, BJP’s Anil Vij and Renuka Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress. That these talks were inconclusive was evident by the way the Opposition raised the pitch for an assurance that the issue at hand would be discussed. However, the government remained non-committal and heated exchanges were witnessed between the Opposition and treasury benches.

At one point, in response to a comment from Abhay Chautala, the entire Congress brigade was on its feet in protest, even as a furious Fauji -- at whom the comment was directed -- came charging out of his seat. He was, however, sent back even as INLD members came to the well of the House before being asked to return to their seats.

As soon as the Speaker announced the beginning of question hour, protests by the Opposition resumed. After warning them, Sharma named 28 INLD MLAs and suspended them for the rest of the session though sending them out proved to be an equally uphill task and marshals had to be called in. Raising slogans, some MLAs even argued with the marshals before leaving the House.

BJP’s Anil Vij took off from where they had left and began raising the demand for an inquiry into “a CPS asking for a Rs 5-crore bribe” and an assurance from Hooda that the matter would be discussed after question hour. After being warned, he, too, was named for the remaining session.

However, BJP MLA Krishan Pal Gujjar urged for leniency and the naming was reduced to today’s proceedings after which the two remaining BJP MLAs and one of the HJC also staged a walkout. However, just before leaving, Vij trained his guns on Kanda and asked the Speaker to send him out as well.

At this, Surjewala asked the Speaker to convert the day-long suspension into that for the rest of the session, which was accepted. Two resolutions, one for the INLD MLAs and another for BJP’s Anil Vij, condemning the “irresponsible behaviour” of each of the Opposition MLAs by name, brought by Surjewala, was voted and passed by the House.