LS adjourned twice over Haryana SGPC issue

The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice on Thursday during Question Hour when Opposition members protested against the move to create a separate Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee by the Congress government in Haryana. As soon as the House assembled for the day, Akali Dal members opposed creation of a separate SGPC for Haryana.

Ratan Singh Ajnala and Harsimrat Kaur of the Akali Dal said the Congress government in Haryana had taken this step to create a controversy ahead of the assembly elections in the state. They were joined by Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-United members. As BJP members raised their voice in protest, Ajnala and Kaur rushed to the well of the House.Yogi Adityanath of the BJP said this was an interference by the government in religious affairs, while Kaur said this issue was very important for the community. Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee told the Opposition not to disrupt the Question Hour over this

issue, which could be taken up later. As the din continued, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House for 30 minutes. When the House reassembled, similar scenes were witnessed with Akali Dal-BJP members chanting slogans "Dharmik mamley mein dakhal dena band karo (stop interfering in religious matters)" and "Sikh samaj key sath anyay band karo (stop injustice against Sikh community)". Amid the din, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.

The Speaker pleaded with the agitating members to go back to their seats and allow the Question Hour to proceed. She asked them why they failed to turn up on August 4, when she had called them for discussion on the issue. In the din, she asked Congress member Navin Jindal to ask a supplementary to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and the minister even replied to that in the din. This angered the agitating members who chanted slogans forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for the second time.