— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

SPECIAL PACKAGE: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad after presenting the Railway budget at Parliament House on Monday.

NEW DELHI : The Lok Sabha witnessed an unusual sight on Monday: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad going about his task of presenting his budget for 2007-08, even as the Opposition continuously raised slogans demanding the extradition of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.

Mr. Prasad was undeterred by the din and barring an occasional dig at the Opposition, remained focused on presenting the budget. He virtually denied the Bharatiya Janata Party an opportunity to disrupt the proceedings.

Similar scenes were enacted in the Rajya Sabha too, which was adjourned within minutes of its assembling both in the morning and in the post-lunch sessions.

When Mr. Prasad got up to table a copy of the budget in the Rajya Sabha at 2 p.m., the Opposition members indulged in sloganeering and trooped into the well demanding the extradition of the Bofors case accused held by the Interpol in Argentina earlier this month.

Nothing was audible in the din and the House was adjourned for the day.

In the Lok Sabha, the BJP led by Kiran Maheswari managed to provoke the treasury and the ruling coalition benches towards the end of the 65-minute budget presentation when in a change of tack, they alluded to the personal relations between Mr. Quattrocchi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi.

Leaving house

The turn-around came when many BJP MPs were leaving the House after the protest or were returning to their seats.

The personal attack led to a sharp retort first from Ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal, Vilas Muttemwar, Subodh Kant Sahay and Kantilal Bhuria and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi asked the Treasury benches not to disturb the budget presentation.

Rural Development Minister Raguvansh Prasad Singh took strong objection to the ``verbal abuse.''

During the last 15 minutes, not much of what Mr. Prasad said was audible, as both the BJP and Congress MPs indulged in verbal duels. At one stage, Congress Chief Whip Madhusudan Mistry and Aniruddh Prasad, alias Sadhu Yadav, were seen physically blocking and restraining MPs from pushing their way in from the aisles to the well of the House, half of which was occupied by the BJP MPs.

The Congress president remained composed and occasionally urged the ruling coalition members to take their seats. On one occasion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh beckoned Mr. Dasmunsi and gave him some instructions.

Earlier, the Samajwadi Party MPs also raised slogans and occupied the aisles before staging a walkout, as did the Telugu Desam Party. The House was adjourned soon after it assembled for the day, as the Opposition insisted on an explanation from the Government for the delay in making the February 6 detention of Mr. Quattrocchi in Argentina public.

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