Parliament failed to transact any business a day before the winter session ends as both the treasury benches and the opposition raised slogans and hurled accusations at each other.
In the Rajya Sabha, when Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad stood up to speak at Zero Hour, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began to waving placards on the AgustaWestland scam and Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu sought to know what Mr. Azad wished to speak on.
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said Mr. Azad had given a notice to raise the issue of farmers’ distress, adding that as per convention, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the House were permitted to speak when they wanted to.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the ruling party wanted a discussion on the corruption cases tumbling out, and that the Congress was trying to create a disturbance in the House. Mr. Kurien said that he could give a notice for such a discussion.
As ruling party members continued to shout slogans, Mr. Azad said it was unprecedented that the treasury benches were trying to disrupt the House.
As opposition members trooped into the well of the House, the chair adjourned it. The House was finally adjourned for the day after abortive attempts to bring it in order failed.
Uproar in Lok Sabha too
The Lok Sabha also witnessed an uproar as opposition members targeted the government on the demonetisation issue and BJP members attacked the Congress over alleged bribery in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, leading to adjournments.
Both sides resorted to shouting slogans, with ruling party members waving copies of newspapers to attack the Congress.
Before the proceedings began, Home Minister Rajnath Singh walked up to the Opposition benches and was seen talking to Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi were present in the House.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar referred to the VVIP chopper scam issue, saying the “master middleman” Christian Michel has named “the first family of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)” and this was making the Congress run away from debate. He added there should also be a discussion on the VVIP chopper scam. This led to furious Congress members again storming the well raising slogans denouncing the Modi government.
‘Unprecedented’
Later, addressing reporters, Mr. Ananth Kumar termed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as the “mastermind behind the gagging of the Parliament”, as he squarely blamed the opposition for disrupting both Houses of Parliament. “The Agusta scam is unprecedented, the note jugaad (a TV-led sting operation allegedly showing some functionaries of various opposition parties laundering black money) is unprecedented. We want those who have been preaching from roof tops about transparency and probity for a debate on these issues. We want to hear a reply from [Congress president] Sonia Gandhi on the Agusta issue,” he said.
“I want to ask both the Trinamool Congress and the Left Front whether they are with the Congress on the Agusta scam and the money laundering sting operation,” he added.
