The winter session of Parliament began on a stormy note on Thursday with a determined Opposition stalling the proceedings in the Lok Sabha in protest against the new sugarcane pricing policy of the government.
After a half-an-hour adjournment at 11.30 a.m., the House was finally adjourned for the day as Opposition members, mounting a noisy protest, trooped into the well of the House.
As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day and obituary references to nine former members were made by Speaker Meira Kumar, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh, along with their party members, stormed into the well of the House, raising slogans to highlight the plight of sugarcane growers.
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They charged the government with turning a blind eye to the problems of sugarcane farmers. Ms. Kumar adjourned the House till noon.
“Stop the loot of sugarcane growers” and “Pay more to sugarcane farmers” were some of the slogans that the agitated members raised.
Repeated appeals by the Speaker to them to return to their respective seats and restore order in the House failed to cut any ice.
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It was a similar story when the House reassembled, as JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Basudeb Acharia also joined the SP and RLD leaders.
BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar were also seen raising the issue in the wake of the Sugarcane (Control) Order 2009.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after obituary references were made to two sitting members who had died during the inter-session period.