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Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

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National

Altercation in Lok Sabha

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 23 . Parliament was adjourned sine die at noon today — some hours ahead of schedule — as the Opposition persisted with its demand for a statement from the Government on the "whereabouts" of the Coal Minister, Shibu Soren, against whom a Jharkhand court has issued a warrant in a 30-year-old case.

But before the Lok Sabha was adjourned, the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, condemned the Opposition for "obstructing" the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, while he was making an observation earlier in the day.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition's insistence on a statement from the Government on Mr. Soren snowballed into an altercation with the ruling benches when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members interrupted the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, as he sought their cooperation in running the House.

Speaker interrupted

Before taking up question hour, Mr. Chatterjee said: "Though I feel pained, I wish to forget what has happened in the House during the last few days. Today, there are many important subjects to be discussed: The issue of our nationals being held hostage in Iraq, the issue relating to the grave flood and drought situation in the country..."

However, in mid-sentence, he was interrupted by Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) who said the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, should be allowed to speak first.

Immediately, members of the United Progressive Alliance were on their feet protesting the manner in which Mr. Malhotra had "obstructed" the Speaker. With other Opposition members rising to Mr. Malhotra's defence even as the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani looked on, and both sides heading for the well, the Speaker adjourned the House.

When the House met again at noon, the Speaker informed members that Mr. Mukherjee had given a notice to make a statement.

Referring to the morning's developments, Mr. Mukherjee said: "This is an unprecedented incident in the House that the Speaker of the House was not allowed to complete his observation. There are no words to condemn this type of behaviour when the Speaker is the custodian of the rights, privileges, dignity of the House, and to prevent him from discharging his duties is a gross disrespect to the Chair and the House. We strongly condemn this behaviour of a section of Opposition members."

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