May 3: The issue of an alleged scam in the 2G spectrum allocation rocked both the Houses of Parliament on Monday. The Opposition members’ trooped into the well demanding resignation of telecom minister A. Raja for his controversial role in the exercise.
The Lok Sabha witnessed two adjournments on the issue in the morning, and the third and the final one in the afternoon, forcing deputy speaker Karia Munda to adjourn the House for the day to meet again on Tuesday morning.
The morning adjournments were seen first during the Question Hour itself and then again during Zero Hour. On both the occasions, the members of the AIADMK were seen shouting slogan against the minister and waving the newspaper clippings containing news item accusing Mr Raja’s involvement in the alleged scam.
In the afternoon, the disruption began shortly after various MPs had spoken on the need for the caste enumeration in the on-going Census. Barely had they finished speaking, the AIADMK MPs once again trooped into the well of the House in similar fashion.
While the AIADMK members continued to stand in the well and raise slogans, BJP MPs too stood at their seats in support. With Mr Munda not adjourning the House despite the continuing din, it helped the government pass two bills without any discussion. One of the bills was the Payment of Gratuity Bill, which raises the ceiling of gratuity for employees to Rs 10 lakhs from the current Rs 3.5 lakhs and the other was Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2010.
The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned four times within two hours as it met on Monday. The Upper House witnessed two adjournments during the Question Hour on the same issue.
As soon as the Upper House met for the day, AIADMK member V Maitreyan demanded a discussion on the issue and asked for a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should make a statement. The AIADMK leader said he has given notice for suspension of Question Hour and wanted Dr Singh to come to the House and clarify the matter. He got support from the BJP members, who were seen standing in their sitting rows.
Chairman Hamid Ansari said Mr Maitreyan’s notice cannot be accepted and asked members to resume their places so that Question Hour can be taken up. As AIADMK members started moving towards the well, Mr Ansari said, “Please allow question hour to proceed.” However, the House had to be adjourned for 15 minutes as members from the AIADMK supported by the BJP, Left parties and Samajwadi Party kept agitating.
When the House reassembled, Mr Maitreyan repeated his demand. As Opposition members continued with their protest, the Chairman adjourned the House till 1200 hours.
During zero hour in Rajya Sabha, the CPI(M) demanded the government’s reply on charges that a minister had indulged in arms deals. The matter was raised by CPI-M’s Moinul Hassan and was supported by the BJP, RJD, SP and AIADMK. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prithviraj Chavan said that the government has taken note of all issues raised in the zero hour seriously but the opposition members were not satisfied with the government’s reply.