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Friday, May 11, 2007
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Turmoil over Sheila's remarks

Special Correspondent

In Rajya Sabha, AIADMK seeks dismissal of Karunanidhi government In Rajya Sabha, AIADMK seeks dismissal of Karunanidhi Government

NEW DELHI: Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday without any business being transacted.

The Lok Sabha was in turmoil over Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's remarks about large-scale migration from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar into the national capital.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is part of the United Progressive Alliance, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal (United) in criticising her comments and demanding her resignation.

Violence in Tamil Nadu

In the Rajya Sabha, AIADMK members entered the well demanding the dismissal of the Karunanidhi government over the recent violence in Tamil Nadu.

They refused to heed the Chair's pleas to return to their seats.

At the same time, members of the Congress, the Left parties and the SP were demanding to be heard on the Gujarat encounter issue as Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh was allowed to speak earlier in the week.

The noisy protests made it impossible for both Houses to function. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee made two attempts in the morning to resume order in the Lok Sabha.

As the din continued, even after he said that Ms. Dikshit apologised for her remarks, the Speaker adjourned the House till Friday morning.

Meeting with Pranab

Later, United Progressive Alliance Parliamentary managers called Ms. Dikshit to the Parliament House.

At a meeting with the Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, she showed a recording of the statement she made at a function in the capital on Thursday. The Chief Minister held a press conference separately to state her position on the issue. In the Rajya Sabha, the first adjournment came within minutes and when it reassembled, Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan got the papers listed for the day and adjourned the House for the second time.

He announced the final adjournment, as the protests did not subside when the House reassembled for the third time.

Revoke statement: CPI

At a press conference, Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta demanded that Ms. Dikshit withdraw her statement that migrants were putting pressure on the infrastructure in the capital.

She should remember that funds for the capital came from the Centre and it belonged to the whole country, he said. "No other city has access to such lavish funds."

Policies blamed

The economic policies pursued by successive governments at the Centre were to blame for disparity in development. "If there is less development in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who is to be blamed? If there are more jobs in Delhi, the Centre has to be praised."

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