Upper House adjourned over NRC stir

The issue of Assam’s draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) on Wednesday rocked the Rajya Sabha as the TMC members vociferously protested resulting in the House failing to complete a discussion on the sensitive matter and Home Minister Rajnath Singh too being unable to reply. The unrelenting protests led Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the House for the day.

The protesting members also did not allow BJP chief Amit Shah to speak on NRC when the House reconvened after the lunch break. The TMC members trooped into the Well of the House when Shah was about to resume his speech, which was disrupted on Tuesday as well.

Shah finally gave up and said he understood why he was not being allowed to speak further and that he would request the Chair that the Home Minister may complete his statement which too had failed on Tuesday.

Soon after listed papers were laid as the House assembled in morning, the Congress members created an uproar insisting on removal from the records certain remarks

made by BJP chief Amit Shah during the debate on the NRC on Tuesday.

Senior Congress MP Anand Sharma raised a point of order and insisted on removal of Shah’s comments. Several other Congress members were also on their feet to support Sharma.

Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too said the record of proceedings of the House must be looked into. Sharma said Shah, during his speech on the NRC debate, had termed all Prime Ministers in office after late Rajiv Gandhi as “bujhdil’ (coward). In an apparent jibe at the ruling BJP, Azad said one of the Prime Ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, belonged to the BJP.

Naidu assured Sharma that he would go through the records and asked Shah to resume his statement, which he had not been able to complete on Tuesday as the House was adjourned midway due to uproar. As Shah rose to continue his statement, there were protests from Congress and some other Opposition MPs too joined them.

Earlier, the Chair said he was upset by behaviour of certain members on Tuesday who did not allow the house to run. Naidu also said some members came to the well “menacingly” and he feared that the Rajya Sabha secretariat staff may be harmed. When the House reconvened at 2 pm after the lunch break, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy of the Trinamool Congress stood up and raised a point of order as BJP president Amit Shah was asked to conclude his speech. Naidu responded to the point of order, saying he has allowed Shah to complete his speech.

Roy said, “If any member who is so called upon does not speak, he shall not be entitled except with the permission of the Chair. Here, in this case, one honourable member has already spoken. How can he speak twice? There is no provision in the Rules.”

Soon thereafter, Trinamool Congress members stormed the Well of the House raising slogans. The BJP president said if his speaking caused “so much fear, he can let go of the opportunity” to enable Naidu to run the House. “I know why they (opposition) do not want me to speak,” requesting Naidu to ask the Home Minister to make a statement. Then Naidu asked the Home Minister to reply to the debate.

However, the TMC members who were shouting slogans from the Well remained unrelenting and Rajnath Singh sought the Chair’s permission to table his entire speech.