New Delhi: Parliament on Thursday witnessed repeated
adjournments following uproar over demands for separate
Telangana, an issue which saw members from TRS, BJP and
Congress coming together despite their divergent political
leanings.
Both Houses of Parliament were rocked by the demand as
soon as they met for the day.
In the Lok Sabha, TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao and his
colleague M Vijayashanti rushed to the Well, chanting `Jai
Telangana` and `We want Telangana`. They were supported by BJP
members.
A section of Congress members from Andhra Pradesh too were
seen in the aisle raising slogans for a separate Telangana,
while TDP members were seen waving placards favouring `United
Andhra Pradesh`.
A Congress member went across to the TDP members and
snatched the placard and joined his protesting colleagues.
Speaker Meira Kumar repeatedly pleaded with the agitated
members to allow the Question Hour to continue, but when they
did not relent, she adjourned the House till noon.
Same scenes were repeated when the House re-assembled.
The Speaker requested the members to let the House
function and allow taking up debate on the Railway Budget but
the pleas went unheeded.
Amidst the din, Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) raised the issue
of the Supreme Court verdict on CVC and said the matter should
be taken up in the House considering its serious nature. He
was supported by his party members.
In view of the uproar, the Speaker adjourned the House for
30 minutes.
When the House met again at 12.30 pm, TRS members and some
from Congress were again on their feet. Rao and Vijayshanti
were again in the Well.
The Speaker said she would allow members, including the
TRS chief, to speak briefly on Telangana issue to ensure that
the House functions properly.
JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav also requested Rao and
Vijayashanti to go to their seats but they did not relent.
Yadav also wanted Congress members, who were vociferously
demanding separate Telangana state, to end slogan shouting.
"We are in favour of Telangana state. But all the members
want debate on Rail Budget," the JD(U) leader said. This
triggered angry protests from Congress members. He said he
should be allowed to complete what he wanted to say but
Congress members did not listen.
The Speaker`s offer to members to speak caused a division
among the Congress members who were favouring Telangana.
K Rajgopal Reddy of Congress wanted to speak but he was
stopped by other pro-Telangana party members.
As the din continued, Meira Kumar adjourned the House till
2 pm.
After the adjournment, Reddy and some of his party
colleagues were seen engaged in heated exchanges among
themselves.
Uproar over the issue was again witnessed when the House
re-assembled.
Senior BJP leader LK Advani requested Rao and
Vijayashanti to resume their seats, saying people of Telangana
want statehood through an Act of Parliament.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj took strong
objection to the Speaker`s offer to members to speak briefly.
"The government is already aware of what the members want
to say. The government should act. Why is this drama being
enacted. We want the government to commit that the Telangana
Bill be brought in the current session," Swaraj said.
She said, "The government is responsible for this
`tamasha` (drama)."
As the din continued, the Chair adjourned the House till 3
pm.
PTI
