Amidst furore over Nandigram, LS and RS adjourned

Furore over the killing of farmers in Nandigram in West Bengal on Thursday created pandemonium in both Houses of Parliament, resulting in their adjournment.

Trouble began in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha right from the word go as a determined Opposition demanded suspension of Question Hour and taking up of discussion on the issue.

In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani was allowed to speak by Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal who, however, disallowed suspension of the Question Hour.

The Left members vociferously protested against Advani being allowed to speak with CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia asking the Chair under what rule was he allowing Advani.

Amid slogan-shouting by BJP-Shiv Sena members that 'Communists are murderers' and 'Communist high-handedness will not be tolerated', Acharia questioned allowing the issue of law and order, which is a state subject, to be raised in Parliament.

This added fuel to the Opposition fire with some Shiv Sena members demanding dismissal of the Left Front Government in West Bengal for the 'cold-blooded murder of farmers'.

Prakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs, told rediff.com that 10 bodies have been recovered so far.

"We may get more bodies and some injured may need treatment but the police has to first enter Nandigram to ascertain the truth," he said.

The scene was no different in Rajya Sabha when Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh rose to speak on the issue. Immediately, Brinda Karat (CPI-M) asked Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat under what rule the issue, a state subject, was being raised.

This provoked an angry reaction from BJP members who raised slogans.

Lone Trinamool Congress member Dinesh Trivedi sought suspension of the Question Hour to take up discussion on the issue. Congress members, however, protested this.

Sitaram Yechury, CPM politburo member and Rajya Sabha member, rejected the demand of the NDA to have a joint parliamentary probe into the incident - "We are open to any kind of investigation that would bring out the truth and put an end to one-sided stories. But then you cannot have this kind of probe everyday. You have to respect the fundamentals of the Constitution, which places law and order in the state list."

Blaming the Trinamool Congress, Yechury said that the police had moved in to break the deadlock created by its members.

"The people who are living in captivity, including the CPM cadres, needed to be protected. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had convened an all-party meet, which was boycotted by Trinamool Congress. It was decided that the police should be sent in to break the cordon," he explained to newsmen.

Amar Singh, general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, refused to join issues with Yechury and instead asked the West Bengal chief minister to tackle the problem.

With PTI inputs