'Don't want people to see ugly scenes,' Venkaiah Naidu adjourns Rajya Sabha amid din; LS discusses President's Rule in J&K

As the third week of the Winter Session of the Parliament came to an end, the Upper House did not transact much business. As had been the case during the entire session thus far, Rajya Sabha was once again disrupted by protests over the Cauvery issue, and was adjourned for the day within moments of convening for the day. The House will reconvene 11 am on 31 December. Protests also disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings, and it was adjourned until noon. However, once resumed, business went on as usual. The imposition of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, along with crop prices and the Women’s Reservation Bill, was brought up in the Lower House. Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha was Friday adjourned for the day without transacting any business after uproar by Opposition members over the construction of a dam on the Cauvery River and other issues. AIADMK and DMK trooped MPs trooped into the well of the House, raising slogans over the construction of the Mekadatu Dam on the Cauvery River. [caption id=“attachment_2829912” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Samajwadi Party members too were up on their feet, trying to raise the issue of mob violence in Bulandshahr that left two persons dead, including an inspector rank police officer. Some members from Andhra Pradesh too were in the well of the House demanding special status for the state. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he does not see any reason for the protests after the chair has agreed for a discussion on all issues and the government too has no objection to it. “I don’t want these ugly scenes to be seen by people,” he said, adding, “Time has come to think of some action” after his repeated pleas for order in the House went unheeded. “We have to take some action,” he said before adjourning the proceedings for the day. The only business that the House could transact was laying of official papers on the table of the House. Earlier when the House met, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (SAD) demanded that the House pay homage to the four martyred sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Naidu rose from his seat and stated that the whole House associates with the sentiments expressed. He said the four sons of the tenth Sikh Guru displayed exemplary courage. The House also extended birthday wishes to Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley and former defence minister AK Antony. While V Maitreyan (AIAMDK) reminded the House of Jaitley’s birthday, Derek O’Brien (TMC) said it was also Antony’s birthday today. Members thumped their desks to wish the two leaders. O’Brien took to Twitter to accuse the government of disrupting proceedings in the Rajya Sabha to keep the House from discussing key issues. “Day 11 Parliament Script written by government to disrupt Rajya Sabha so key issues can’t be discussed. Their ‘ally’ will jump into Well around 11.10 am,” he wrote. Shortly after the tweet was posted, MPs swarmed the Well and began sloganeering. Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House until 31 December. O’Brien tweeted a response to the development, and called it “so predictable.” Lok Sabha Proceedings of the Lok Sabha were also disrupted on Friday due to unrelenting protests sloganeering by Opposition MPs on various issues, including a probe into the Rafale aircraft deal. As soon as the House met at 11 am, MPs belonging to the Congress, AIADMK, TDP and Left parties came to the Well and shouted slogans over various issues. While the Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale aircraft deal, the AIADMK raised slogans on the Cauvery issue. TDP members sought special status for Andhra Pradesh while Left MPs raised the demand for bringing a Bill to ensure reservation for women in legislature. As more than 30 members from various parties continued to shout slogans and displayed placards while standing in the Well, Mahajan adjourned the House till noon. Two questions were taken up during the Question Hour, which went on for about 20 minutes. Proceedings resumed amid the Opposition’s slogans of “we want justice”. The Women’s Reservation Bill and rising crop prices were among the issues discussed. SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra raised the issue of rising prices of potatoes and Basmati rice, and urged the government to listen to the pleas of farmers in Punjab. With inputs from agencies