Parliament proceedings were again disrupted on Thursday with the Opposition demanding the resignation of Home Minister P. Chidambaram for his alleged role in the controversial 2G spectrum allocations.
Trouble in both Houses began after the CBI special court hearing the 2G case allowed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy to depose as witness and lend further evidence in support of his private complaint against the Home Minister. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance created uproar in both Houses, seeking Mr. Chidambaram's resignation.
The Lok Sabha could not conduct any business as the protests began right from the moment the House assembled, with the NDA demanding Mr. Chidambaram's resignation and AIADMK members demanding a discussion on the Mullaperiyar dam. This led to the first adjournment, taking a toll on question hour.
In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA members created uproar towards the end of question hour, prompting Chairman Hamid Ansari to adjourn the House for 10 minutes till noon and then again till 2 p.m.
As soon as Speaker Meira Kumar called for question hour, the NDA members were on their feet, demanding the resignation of Mr. Chidambaram. DMK member T.R. Baalu was heard demanding a discussion on the Mullaperiyar dam issue while some other members trooped into the Well and raised slogans. With unruly scenes continuing, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.
Similar scenes were witnessed when the House met again at 12 noon. After papers were laid and Communist Party of India member Gurudas Dasgupta was asked to initiate the discussion on price rise, the NDA members started shouting and demanded that Mr. Chidambaram step down.
The Speaker tried to pacify the members, saying the House wanted to take up the discussion on price rise for a long time and they should cooperate. However, the NDA members continued to raise slogans, while MPs from Tamil Nadu walked into the Well to press their demand on the Mullaperiyar dam issue. The Speaker then adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi later told journalists that since the special court had taken note of Dr. Swamy's complaint. there should be a probe. “In this situation, Mr. Chidambaram should submit his resignation on his own, or else the Prime Minister should sack him,” he said.
In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA members disrupted proceedings at the fag end of the question hour. The House functioned for about 50 minutes when BJP members M. Venkaiah Naidu and S.S. Ahluwalia suddenly stood up to raise the matter. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present in the House then.
Disallowing them, Mr. Ansari said, “this is wrong,” and adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
As the House reassembled, unruly scenes were witnessed when several members of the NDA, the AIADMK and the Left were on their feet. Many BJP members trooped into the well, demanding Mr. Chidambaram's resignation. The AIADMK members too walked into the well raising slogans that were not audible in the pandemonium, following which the chair ordered tabling of papers and reports and adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
Earlier both Houses paid rich tributes to legendary film actor Dev Anand, who passed away in London on December 3.
