Half of Parliament's Winter Session Washed Out
NEW DELHI: Almost half of Parliament's winter session was washed out with the ninth consecutive day today being lost to the din caused by the Opposition and two UPA constituents over their demand for a rollback of the decision to allow FDI in retail.
Logjam prevailed in Parliament despite the government's efforts to placate its allies ~ the DMK and the Trinamul Congress ~ whose members continued to join the Opposition in vociferously protesting against the FDI decision.
"Down, Down, FDI", "FDI Wapas Lo" rent the air in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with Trinamul Congress and DMK members joining the Opposition BJP, Left, JD-U and Samajwadi Party in the protests. Some slogan-shouting Trinamul members, along with those from the Left, the JD-U and the SP, even stormed the Well in the Lok Sabha.
With Parliament going into a four-day recess, the two Houses will now meet on 7 December. The current session is slated to conclude on 22 December.
Uproar started soon after the Houses met for the day and both were first adjourned till noon and then for the day.
In Lok Sabha, as soon as Speaker Mrs Meira Kumar took up the Question Hour, Mr Basudeb Acharia of the CPI-M was on his feet and tried to draw her attention to the FDI issue. He was joined by BJP member Mr Murli Manohar Joshi. Both Mr Acharia and Mr Joshi had given separate notices for adjournment motion to discuss the government's decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent in single-brand retail. BJP and Left members were soon on their feet and started raising slogans.
MPs from Kerala held placards demanding appropriate steps to deal with the Mullaperiyar dam issue. “Safety of Kerala, Water for Tamil Nadu” read the placards. In the Rajya Sabha, unruly scenes were witnessed just as the House met for the day with the Opposition demanding rollback of the FDI decision. UPA ally the DMK joined the protest along with members from the BJP, the SP, the BSP and others. "FDI wapas lo" and "East India Company wapas jao" (East India Co. Go Back) chanted members belonging to the BJP, the BSP, the AIADMK and the SP.
Opposition members were on their feet the moment Chairman Mr Hamid Ansari took his seat. As the slogan shouting Opposition members were about to enter the Well, Mr Ansari adjourned the House till noon. When the House re-assembled, similar scenes were witnessed with the entire Opposition raising slogans. In the din, Deputy Chairman Mr K Rahman Khan directed laying of papers. As the din continued, he adjourned the House for the day.
