New Delhi | Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday as the AIADMK and DMK protested over Cauvery issue, while the Congress demanded that a privilege notice against the government be taken up for allegedly misleading Parliament and the Supreme Court on Rafale jet deal.
Rajya Sabha proceedings have been disrupted for the last five days on issues like Rafale, the dam on Cauvery river and demand of special status to Andhra Pradesh.
As the House assembled for the sixth day of the Winter Session, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu informed the members that various notices on urgent matters, ranging from cyclones affecting lives in some states to price rise to agriculture crisis, have been admitted for discussion.
Naidu, who had adjourned the proceedings for the entire day on Monday amid uproar over Rafale, Cauvery, and other issues, appealed to the members to let the House run its business.
The Chairman said that he was going through a privilege notice given by the Opposition.
However, soon after the papers were laid by the ministers, members from the two major political parties of Tamil Nadu — AIADMK and DMK — trooped into the Well of the House, carrying placards and shouting slogans against the construction of a dam on Cauvery river.
Some members from Andhra Pradesh were also seen displaying placards demanding special status for the state.
Amid sloganeering, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the privilege motion against the government on the Rafale jet deal should be accepted as the matter is agitating the minds of the people.
Azad alleged the government has misled Parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue, triggering vociferous protests from the treasury benches.
The senior Congress leader said the government has no right to continue in office and “should go”.
Naidu, however, said that the Chair should be allowed to take a view on the Privilege notice.
The Congress had given the notice demanding an explanation from the government on why it provided the Supreme Court “wrong” information on the purchase of Rafale fighter jet from a French company.
Countering Azad, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government was ready to discuss all issues, including Rafale.
He demanded that the Congress apologize in the wake of the apex court’s refusal to order a SIT probe in Rafale deal and Sajjan Kumar’s conviction by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
As slogan shouting by the AIADMK and DMK members continued in the Well of the House, Naidu adjourned the House till 2 PM.
As per the listed business, the House is scheduled to take up in the afternoon a discussion on the devastation caused by cyclones Gaja, and Titli in some states and the action taken by the government in this regard.
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