The Jogi controversy on Monday plunged the Lok Sabha into turmoil with an agitated BJP training its guns on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and demanding to know whether the former Chhattisgarh chief minister had taken her consent to split the BJP Legislature Party.
The disturbance forced adjournment of the House for nearly two hours.
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Amidst strong protests by Congress members, BJP members Madan Lal Khurana, V K Malhotra, Kirit Somaiyya and others demanded Gandhi's presence in the House and a statement on the issue.
Malhotra, who is the BJP's chief whip, said his party would not allow the House to function till the Leader of the Opposition offered an explanation. He said no Congress chief minister could dare to 'sneeze' without the party president's permission and asked how Jogi could have attempted this operation without her nod.
Hitting back at the BJP, Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy said the BJP's 'sting operation' was within the knowledge of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and that Law Minister Arun Jaitley was a 'a party to it'.
Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi rejected several notices of opposition-sponsored adjournment motions, including those on the allegations of 'milking' of PSUs by Union ministers, the bribery allegations against Dilip Singh Judeo and muzzling of the media by the Tamil Nadu government.
As soon as the House assembled, agitated BJP members Madan Lal Khurana and others were on their feet demanding an immediate discussion on the alleged attempt to bribe and split the BJP in Chhattisgarh by former chief minister Ajit Jogi.
Joshi told the members that he would not allow Question Hour to be disrupted and would give them an opportunity to raise these matters during Zero Hour.
One of the notices pertained to non-payment of remunerative prices to farmers.
