Gujarat Lokayukta rocks parliament for third day

New Delhi: Parliament was disrupted for the third day Monday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) persisted with its demand for the recall of Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal over the appointment of a Lokayukta without consulting Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Both houses were adjourned for the day.

Both houses witnessed noisy scenes immediately after they met for the day, with the Lok Sabha being adjourned thrice till 4 p.m. and later for the day. The Rajya Sabha witnessed two disruptions before being adjourned for the day.

The trouble in the Lok Sabha began soon after it met for the day with vociferous demands from BJP MPs that Beniwal be recalled for appointing retired judge R.S. Mehta as the Gujarat Lokayukta. The BJP benches did not allow the smooth conduct of proceedings and the MPs rushed towards the speaker's podium, forcing Meira Kumar to first adjourn the house till noon without taking up the question hour.

With similar scenes being repeated when the house met again, Deputy Speaker Karia Munda too followed suit and adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

The house met after the lunch recess to drop the impeachment motion against former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Soumitra Sen in the wake of his resignation Saturday.

Soon after, the house had to be adjourned as BJP MPs trooped towards the speaker's podium and continued to raise slogans.

At 4 p.m. too, the house could not settle down and had to be adjourned for the day by the presiding officer, Congress MP Girija Vyas.

In between, the government introduced the National Academic Depository Bill and passed the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Bill without a debate.

In the Rajya Sabha, agitated BJP members repeatedly raised the issue of the Lokayukta's appointment and the house witnessed two disruptions before being adjourned for the day.

The issue was raised by BJP members soon after the house met for the day. Some party members gathered the near the chairman's podium and Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till 12 noon. The BJP members continued their protests after the house reassembled and the chair then adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

After the house reassembled, Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan said that the Commercial Division of High Courts Bill, 2010, should be taken up. However, BJP members came near his podium raising slogans against the Lokayukta's appointment.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said the matter was sub-judice as the Gujarat High Court was looking into the matter. However, BJP members continued to raise slogans. The chair then adjourned the house till Tuesday.