New Delhi: Vociferous protests by Opposition members led by the Congress continued in the Lok Sabha on Monday as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan warned several of them of action if they did not stop displaying placards, forcing the adjournment of the House for almost two hours.
The noisy scenes began soon after the House assembled and expressed grief at the loss of lives and property in different parts of the country due to cyclone and floods.
When the Question Hour was taken up, over 30 members of the Congress trooped in to the Well, raising slogans and holding placards demanding resignation of External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues.
Members from SP, RJD and JD(U) too were in the Well with placards demanding that caste census data be made public, while some TRS members, also holding placards in the aisles, sought a separate High Court for Telangana.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, standing at his seat, was seen thumping the desk as his party members continued sloganeering in the Well.
As repeated pleas from the Speaker to the agitating members to put down their placards went unheeded, she named several of them, including Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev,
Deepender Hooda, K C Venugopal and Rajiv Satav, and later warned them of action.
Amid noisy protests, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the government wanted the Question Hour to continue, after which the Speaker called out names of those whose questions had been listed for the day.
The Question Hour proceeded with some Ministers replying to certain questions, but most of could not be heard in the din.
Opposition members, especially from the Congress, have been protesting against the government over Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam since the Monsoon Session began
in July.
When some Congress members displayed their placards in front of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma when he was replying to a question, there were sharp protests from the BJP benches with Mahajan also asking the opposition members not to disturb the Minister.
A peeved Sharma, who is the Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, said he was not able to see the face of the member who was asking the question. He requested the Speaker to ensure that a Minister should be allowed to hear the question first.
Mahajan also repeatedly asked the protesting members to put down the placards and even took their names.
Earlier, the Speaker rejected notices for adjournment motions on different subjects, including those by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
With the Speaker rejecting his adjournment motion also, Kharge said despite the subjects being important, she was rejecting such notices every day.
When the House assembled, members expressed anguish over death and destruction caused by the floods and cyclone in different parts of the country and stood in silence for a
brief while.
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