Friday, 17 August, 2007

The Hindu

Parliament witnessed frequent adjournments and a walkout on Thursday over the India-U.S. nuclear deal. Both the Houses were adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session after members of the Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) disrupted the proceedings.

They were demanding an “apology” from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for “misleading” the House on the deal in the wake of the reported observations of a U.S. State Department spokesman in Washington on Wednesday that suggested that the agreement would be scrapped if India were to conduct a nuclear test. The Prime Minister sat through the pandemonium in the Rajya Sabha till the House was adjourned within 10 minutes of its commencement.
Walk-out

In the Lok Sabha, the Left parties joined the Opposition protests and staged a walk-out in the post-lunch session as soon as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee sought to explain the Government’s position. Much of what he said was lost in the din.

While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day a few minutes after noon, the Lok Sabha was adjourned at 2.10 p.m. after Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refused to allow the Opposition members to question Mr. Mukherjee on his statement. His promise to allow the members to raise the matter on Friday fell on deaf ears.

He ran through the listed business but was forced to adjourn the House for the day after the Opposition members refused to continue with the discussion on the flood situation.

Earlier, as soon as the House convened, members from the Opposition and the Left parties were on their feet accusing Dr. Singh of “misleading” Parliament by asserting that India had a sovereign right to conduct a nuclear test. Repeated requests by Mr. Chatterjee to allow the House to function were disregarded. “You are behaving in the most irresponsible manner. I am ashamed of you,” he told the members.

In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA and UNPA members wanted the Question Hour suspended to take up the issue.

Samajwadi Party members Banwarilal Kanchal and Ramnarayan Sahu trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans against the Prime Minister. They were joined by some of their colleagues and BJP members. Members of the Left parties remained silent through the uproar.

After trying to restore order for about 10 minutes, a visibly agitated Chairman Hamid Ansari observed that the behaviour of the Opposition members was “disgraceful” and adjourned the House till noon. When the House reassembled, the situation remained much the same. After the tabling of papers, Mr. Ansari adjourned the House for the day.