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SP, BJP members come to blows in Rajya Sabha

Gargi Parsai

Scuffle as Amar Singh holds Ahluwalia by the collar, pushes him

BJP members raise the slogan “Jai Shri Ram” as soon as Liberhan report is tabled
House adjourned; Chairman takes dim view of the unruly scenes

Photo: R. V. Moorthy

Making peace: Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh having a word with BJP leader S. S. Ahluwalia after the fracas involving both of them at Parliament House on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Unruly scenes marked the tabling of the Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry and the Action Taken Report (ATR) in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Commission, headed by Justice M. S. Liberhan, probed the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and submitted its findings on June 30 this year after an inquiry spanning nearly 17 years. Bowing to opposition demand, the government tabled the report in Parliament.

In the Rajya Sabha, as soon as Home Minister P. Chidambaram tabled the report and the ATR, Bharatiya Janata Party members raised the slogan “Jai Shri Ram.” Taking umbrage at this, the Samajwadi Party’s Amar Singh walked across to the BJP benches. After a brief argument with S.S. Ahluwalia, Mr. Singh suddenly held him by the collar and pushed him. This led to a scuffle between a few SP and BJP members. One SP member was seen raining blows on another member. Other members from both parties separated the two groups. After Mr. Singh and other SP members returned to their seats, they shouted a counter-slogan, “Ya Ali.”

At this sudden turn of events, Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan quickly adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

When it reassembled, an “anguished” Chairman Hamid Ansari took a dim view of what happened and pointed out that “an unsavoury incident does not bring any credit to the House that has its own traditions and conventions which members are aware of. As the House of Elders, we are expected by the public to set some standards.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley agreed with the sentiments expressed by the chair. Mr. Singh expressed “regret,” while Mr. Ahluwalia said it was an “unfortunate incident” that should not be repeated.

Earlier, Mr. Chidambaram tabled the English version of Liberhan report during zero hour in the Lok Sabha and 15 minutes later in the Rajya Sabha, a day after the leak of the report created a furore and disrupted proceedings.

The Minister moved a notice of waiver for not laying the Hindi version and explained to the presiding officers why the government was not ready with copies of the voluminous report for members.

The 999-page report, as well as a bulky annexure, was kept in the Parliament Secretariat. A copy was placed in the Parliament library. The report was uploaded on the Home Ministry’s website.

The decision to table the report was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is away in the United States.

After forcing the government to table the Liberhan report, members from the Janata Dal (United), the SP, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and even the Congress in the Rajya Sabha demanded the tabling and implementation of the Ranganath Misra Commission report on Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

Raising the issue, Ali Anwar(JD-U) said that while the government did not place the Misra report along with the ATR in Parliament, it had been “leaked” to a Hindi daily, as was the case with the Liberhan report.

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