Parliament proceedings: all noise and no work on Day 19

Following protests and slogan raising by members belonging to the AIADMK on the Cauvery water sharing dispute, the Lok Sabha was on Tuesday adjourned for the day soon after Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the SC/ST Act.

The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for the day after 41 (new and re-elected) members took oath.

In the Lok Sabha, AIADMK members began shouting ‘we want justice’ and ‘we want Cauvery Board’, when the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan walked into the House. Within minutes, the Speaker adjourned it until noon.

Speaker’s appeal

When the House resumed at noon, Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on Monday’s bandh called over “dilution” of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, amidst protests. The Speaker appealed to the AIADMK members to return to the seats so that she could do a head count.

Congress’ chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia insisted that more than 50 members of the Opposition wanted a discussion on the no-confidence motion and she should take it up. “We also want to discuss the dilution of the SC/ST Act,’’ he added.

Marred by disruptions

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar responded by saying that the government was ready for a discussion on the motion and blamed the Congress.

“We want discussion. For the last 15 days we have been saying we want discussion. It is the Congress which is preventing the discussion,” Mr. Kumar said, before the House was adjourned for the 19th day because of disruptions.

In the Rajya Sabha, protests erupted over a range of issues: banks frauds, special status for Andhra Pradesh, the SC/ST Act and the sharing of Cauvery waters. While the BSP and the Congress called the government “anti-Dalit,” members of the AIADMK and the DMK demanded the constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board. Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu Naidu soon adjourned the House.