The Hindu : National : Parliament adjourned

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Friday, Apr 22, 2005

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National

Parliament adjourned

Special Correspondent

RJD, Congress blame Gujarat Government for attack on Lalu

NEW DELHI: The reported attack on the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, near Vadodara during his visit to the Sabarmati Express accident site on Thursday rocked Parliament in the afternoon. This led to the adjournment of both houses till Monday, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress members charging the Gujarat Government with "causing the incident" amid protests from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The issue came up in both Houses in the post-lunch session and resulted in a heated exchange between the ruling benches and the Opposition with the RJD and the Congress demanding the dismissal of the Narendra Modi Government. Though the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, maintained that the House would not be adjourned, he gave in in the face of a consensus across the floor.

Within an hour, there were two interruptions while there was a discussion on the Demand for Grants on agriculture in the Lok Sabha. In the first instance, it was raised by the RJD leader, Devendra Prasad Yadav, in response to which the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, B. K. Handique, said a miscreant had thrown a stone at Mr. Prasad's car.

After a short verbal duel between the BJP and Left leaders, the thinly-attended discussion on agriculture resumed. Again there was an interruption with Ram Kripal Yadav (RJD) stating that Mr. Prasad's car had been attacked with petrol bombs.

As the debate heated up, attendance improved with members rushing in to lend voice to the din through which Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) said the Gujarat Government had clarified that there was no truth in the reports of Mr. Prasad being attacked.

Though the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, said the Government would report back after ascertaining the facts with Mr. Prasad and other sources, the RJD members refused to be pacified by either him or repeated appeals from the Speaker.

As the Water Resources Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, urgedCongress members to join the RJD, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, held discussions with party leaders after which it was decided to adjourn the House till Monday since the information being sought would not be available immediately.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice — first for half-an-hour and then for the day — following an uproar over the issue. Trouble broke out when RJD members supported by the Congress loudly protested the "pre-meditated conspiracy" against the Railway Minister. Amid protests from the BJP, the House was adjourned for 30 minutes and later for the day as both sides stuck to their guns.

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