2G verdict, PM's Pak remark stall Parliament

The Congress continued to stall the Parliament over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Pakistan remarks' against former premier Manmohan Singh.

Lok Sabha

The protests by Congress in the Lok Sabha over the remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against former premier Manmohan Singh entered the fifth day on Friday, as it also asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to apologise for the charges it had made regarding the 2G spectrum scam.

Soon after the House assembled and took up the Question Hour, Congress members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding an apology from Modi for his charges during Gujarat poll campaign that Manmohan Singh and others had colluded with Pakistan to rig the election results.

The protesting Congress members continued to raise slogans for an hour even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan continued with the Question Hour proceedings.

A visibly upset Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge raised concerns about not being allowed to raise the issue despite making the demand for the past five days.

Few minutes after the Zero Hour began at noon, the protesting Congress members walked out.

Besides seeking an apology from Modi, the Congress members also sought an apology from the BJP for alleging that a scam had taken place in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation during the UPA rule.

Their demand came a day after a special court acquitted all the accused in the 2G scam case.

On the fifth day of their protest, the number of Congress members in the Well was less compared to other days. The overall attendance in the House was on the lower side, both in the Treasury and the Opposition sides.

The Prime Minister, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were also not present in the House. Sonia Gandhi is usually present during Question Hour, which has recently witnessed her party members protesting in the Well.

Parliament would now meet again on Wednesday after a long weekend due to Christmas.

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it assembled on Friday as the Congress insisted that the impasse over the reported remarks by Modi against Singh should be resolved first.

As soon as the House assembled and papers were laid, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the House should be adjourned till afternoon so that a solution can be found to end the impasse prevailing in the House since the first day of its sitting on December 15.

He said two meetings of the panel headed by Leader of the House Arun Jaitley have taken place to find a solution.

"The House should be adjourned till a solution is found," he said, adding that the Congress members do not want to enter the Well to force adjournment.

Azad said the opposition too wants the House to function and carry out legislative business.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel suggested that the House should continue to function and in the meantime, a solution is found.

"This is not such an issue that a solution cannot be found," he said, adding, the Rajya Sabha did function for a day even during the impasse.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma too insisted that the House should be adjourned without any disruption.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu tried to continue with the Zero Hour proceedings, but as the Congress did not budge, he adjourned the House for the day.

Rajya Sabha will now meet again on December 27, after the long weekend and Christmas break.

Earlier the Chairman had allowed two members to raise points of order'.

While TMC member Derek O'Brien raised the issue of a brief "blackout" of Rajya Sabh TV telecast yesterday, SP member Naresh Agarwal demanded a hike in the salaries of Members of Parliament.

O'Brien said the telecast was stopped at 2.13 pm yesterday when Congress members were protesting over Modi's remarks against Manmohan Singh and others.

These are "democratic scenes", so let the people watch it, he said, adding that this is also part of parliamnetary democracy. O'Brien urged the Chair that the live broadacst should not be shut down.

To this, Naidu said "this is a suggestion" and not a point of order.

Naresh Agarwal then demanded that the salaries of MPs should be increased and said the possible criticism by the media for this, should not be a factor while deciding on the salary hike. He said mediapersons also get hefty salaries.

He demanded for a response from the government on the issue.

Naidu said he will bring the matter to the notice of Jaitley.

Earlier, members paid obituary to Jalaludin Ansari who died on December 17. Ansari was member of the House from April 1994 to April 2000.