The revelation of Army Chief General V.K. Singh to The Hindu, in an interview to senior journalist Vidya Subrahmaniam, published on Monday, that he was offered a bribe of Rs.14 crore rocked both Houses of Parliament, with a stubborn Opposition parties seeking a discussion on the subject and thus forcing adjournments.
Earlier, when the Lok Sabha assembled, Speaker Meira Kumar read out obituary references. Immediately after that members belonging to the BJP, the JD(U) and the AIADMK, and joined by some other Opposition parties, raised the issue. Some of them rushed to the well and, holding copies of the newspaper in their hands, demanded a discussion on the subject. However, the plea was not allowed.
The House, which was adjourned till noon, was again adjourned till 2 p.m. when the din continued.
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In the Rajya Sabha, soon after the House assembled, Prakash Javadekar (BJP) wanted to raise the issue and wanted suspension of question hour. “This is question hour. Only questions will be taken up,” Chairman Hamid Ansari said.
Members of the BJP, the AIADMK and the JD-U joined him, and displaying the copies of The Hindu, started raising slogans seeking a discussion on the subject.
Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) said: “The Army Chief should be asked if he was offered bribe, why did he not call police.”
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As his repeated pleas to members to restore order went unheeded, Mr. Ansari adjourned the House till noon.
When the House met again, S.S. Ahluwalia (BJP) sought a statement from the government.
The Opposition resented that the House had no information and said the media was reporting that the government had ordered a CBI probe.