New Delhi: The second leg of the Budget Session opened to slogan shouting over Uttarakhand issue leading to early adjournment of Rajya Sabha.
Congress-led opposition insisted that the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand be discussed before all else.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue accusing the central government of "deliberately provoking" the opposition and "inducing" disruption so that the House does not run.
Azad said for the last one year, it has been seen that efforts are being made by the ruling party to create a situation that the House does not function.
The senior Congress leader said he had never seen that a government "does things during the session or just days before the session so that Parliament does not function".
He said during winter session, the duly elected Arunachal Pradesh government was "brought down" and the Centre did not stop till it installed its own government there.
Azad said President's rule has been imposed in the past also, but never in such a "crude" way.
When he said he wanted to congratulate the judges of the Uttarakhand High Court for "having the guts to fight the Government of India", Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said there should be "no commentary" on the judicial issues.
As Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to the raising of the Uttrakhand issue saying the matter was sub-judice, Azad said the Centre "which disrespects the court, cannot be trusted".
"Discussion will take place," he asserted, as several Congress members carrying placards stood in the aisle.
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) countered Naqvi saying Leader of the House Arun Jaitley had said in the last session that discussion on issues, even if sub-judice, cannot be prevented in the House. "Apply your own precedents," he said.
Anand Sharma (Cong) said the Centre used proclamation of President's rule to disturb an elected government. "We will discuss it. We will expose you," he said. Right then, Jaitley asked Congress members to debate the issue when the proclamation comes up for discussion.
"It will come up for discussion before the House. This will House will have an oppourtunity to discuss it. Therefore, when the proclamation comes up, please disucss it.
"But today, you cannot by an alternative motion anticipate a discussion which is to take place when the
proclamation comes up. You cannot discuss it at the pre-proclamation stage," Jaitley said.
However, Congress members did not relent and several of them trooped into the Well. They raised slogans like 'Modi teri taanashahi nahi chalegi' (Modi, your authoritarianism will not work) and 'Loktantra ki hatya bandh karo' (stopmurdering democracy). Deputy Chairman P J Kurien then adjourned the House till noon.
When it reassembled, Congress members again raised slogans from the aisle. The House was adjourned by Chairman Hamid Ansari till 2 pm within a few minutes.
