Parliament witnessed uproarious scenes on the UPSC examination row on Friday with the entire Opposition walking out of the Rajya Sabha and a member of the Lok Sabha tearing up a paper and throwing it towards the Speaker’s chair.
The Upper House was adjourned frequently as Opposition members demanded a set timeframe from the government on the UPSC committee’s report.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar came in for sharp attack from Opposition members in the Upper House. They charged him with “instigating” his party members to protest when the issue was raised in the House.
Treasury and Opposition members had sharp exchanges over whose responsibility it was to ensure that the House runs smoothly. When Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal quoted rules seeking a “censure” of the Minister, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said, “Rules apply equally to both, the Opposition and the ruling party members.”
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh intervened to say that the government had taken the ongoing agitation by UPSC examination candidates “very seriously” and was studying all aspects.
“The report has been given by the [three-member] committee that looked into the issue only a day ago. The report is being examined. The government wants this to be resolved as soon as possible,” he said triggering a wave of protest from the Opposition benches.
Members wanted the Minister to give a specific timeframe by when the government will decide the issue. Congress MP Ashwini Kumar and CPI MP D. Raja asked the government to “clearly say” what the timeframe was.
Earlier, Minister of State for Personnel and Training Jitendra Singh said, “The government has received the report today [Friday]. It is a sensitive issue. There are different views on it. We need time to study it. We will consider it and come to the House.”
Dissatisfied with the response of the Ministers, Samajwadi Party members staged a walkout followed by the Janata Dal (United), the Congress and other Opposition parties.
In the Lok Sabha, RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav) tore up a newspaper and threw the bits in the air in front of Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s chair for not being allowed to raise the issue during question hour. He later apologised.
