The second half of the budget session of Parliament resumed on Monday on a stormy note with Lok Sabha proceedings disrupted repeatedly on various issues, leading to adjournment till Tuesday.
As the House met after a month-long break, Opposition members raised demands for Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s resignation, and death for the persons guilty of raping a five-year-old girl in Delhi. They also raised the issues of Statehood for Telangana and the heckling of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her recent visit to the Capital.
No sooner had Speaker Meira Kumar paid tributes to the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and the victims of the April 4 building collapse in Thane in which 74 people were killed, than Left members started shouting slogans against the West Bengal government and showing placards which read, “Stop human rights violations in West Bengal.”
Trinamool Congress members also rushed into the well, raising slogans against the heckling of Ms. Banerjee. Some BJP members trooped into the well, shouting slogans against the incidents of rape across the country and demanding action against the perpetrators.
Some Congress members were seen waving placards for a separate Telangana State. A Telugu Desam Party member raised the demand in the well. As slogans of “Jai Telangana” and “Give Death Sentence to rapists” continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.
When it reassembled, Mr. Shinde laid on the table a statement on the rape of the five-year-old child six days ago in East Delhi. Proceedings were drowned in the din as BJP members demanded Mr. Shinde’s resignation. The Left and the Trinamool continued with their protests, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the House till 2 p.m. and later for the day. Amid the uproar, the Speaker went about introduction of two bills — on Biodiversity Regulatory Authority and Regional Rural Banks.
Despite Basudeb Acharia’s opposition, Science and Technology Minister S. Jaipal Reddy introduced the Biodiversity Regulatory Authority Bill after the CPI(M) leader’s objections were overruled by voice vote. Amid noisy scenes, Mr. Shinde tabled two statements — one on the Delhi rape and the other on the Bangalore blast.
