Parliament was rocked for the second day on Thursday with the Opposition demanding the ouster of Telecom Minister A Raja and the Congress hitting back at the Sangh Parivar over anti-Sonia Gandhi remarks allegedly made by former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudarshan.
The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha could not transact any business in the din as members from both sides stormed the well. The first week of the winter session became virtually a washout, except for the first day when the Lok Sabha transacted some business. Now Parliament will meet on Monday, as Friday has been declared a holiday for Chhath festival, which is widely celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
When Speaker Meira Kumar took her seat, Bharatiya Janata Party members rushed to the well raising slogans against Raja, who is in the eye of a storm following a report by the comptroller and auditor general, which is believed to have passed strictures against the allocation of 2G spectrum. This policy, approved by Raja, caused a loss of nearly Rs 1.76 lakh crore, the CAG report pointed out.
The BJP members were joined by those from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Shiv Sena. Communist Party of India - Marxist members were seen raising slogans from their seats. They were countered by Congress members, some of whom trooped to the well shouting slogans against the RSS. Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal was seen trying to make a point citing anti-Gandhi reports quoting Sudarshan in a Hindi newspaper.
The din prompted the Speaker to adjourn the House till 12 noon. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House re-assembled at noon leading to its adjournment till Monday. Even ministers, including Jitin Prasad and Arun Yadav, were seen raising slogans against RSS. The situation was similar in Rajya Sabha, where Congress members, including Shantaram Naik, rushed to the well at the start of the day. They too carried copies of the newspaper.
Opposition BJP and AIADMK members also trooped into the well, raising slogans demanding the dismissal of Raja on being 'indicted' by CAG over his role in the 2G spectrum allocation.
The House was adjourned till 12 noon. But similar scenes were witnessed when the House met at noon. Unrelenting Congress and Opposition members again rushed into the well trying to press their point. Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan then adjourned the House till Monday.
