New Delhi, Feb. 3: Vociferous protests from both sides created pandemonium in the Lok Sabha on Friday, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house for the day.
After the two adjournments, when the house met at 1 p.m., Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed the Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy to raise the arrests of party MPs Sudip Bandopadhya and Tapas Paul by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam but members from the treasury benches started protesting against this.
Accusing the central government of vendetta politics, Roy alleged that the CBI was being used as a tool against the opposition leaders.
This prompted the treasury benches members to protest the Trinamool leader’s remarks.
Amid the din, Mahajan adjourned the house for the day.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress members trooped near the Speaker’s podium, shouting slogans against the central government. Displaying placards they denounced the arrest of Bandopadhya and Paul.
Congress members also shouted slogans.
Mahajan urged the members to allow the house to function smoothly during Question Hour and asked them to raise their issues later. But the MPs kept shouting slogans.
This prompted the Speaker to adjourn the Lok Sabha till noon.
After the house reassembled, Mahajan disallowed the adjournment notices given by various members, including Saugata Roy and J.P. Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Despite opposition protests, the Speaker continued with the listed business.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill amid opposition from Trinamool’s Saugata Roy.
The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill was introduced by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.
The opposition members again rushed towards Speaker’s podium and started shouting slogans. Amid the din, Mahajan adjourned the house till 1 p.m.
Before the house assembled, the Trinamool members staged a protest near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament complex against the arrest of their MPs.
The Trinamool, West Bengal’s ruling party, has been at loggerheads with the Modi government over various issues including demonetisation.
