Even as the Centre clarified that the name of Rajiv Gandhi has not been dropped from the Hyderabad International Airport, Congress members on Wednesday continued their protest for the second consecutive day in the Rajya Sabha and even stormed the Well of the House leading to two adjournments and washing away of the Question Hour again.
The Rajya Sabha also witnessed uproar due to a tussle between the DMK and the AIADMK members over the issue of death of infants in hospitals in Tamil Nadu.
Due to the continuing row over the issue, only one question could be taken up during the Question Hour. Chairman Hamid Ansari first adjourned the House for around 30 minutes soon after its start and then again at 12:30 pm. The uproar was over an Aviation Ministry order of November 20 which said a decision has been taken to restore the name of the domestic terminal at Shamshabad airport, Hyderabad, as NT Rama Rao Domestic Terminal as it was earlier known at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad.
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurein said that while the issue of renaming of the Rajiv Gandhi airport is a serious one but it can be raised only as per the process. "There is a way to raise it. There is no loP in the House. There is no Deputy loP. Anand Sharma is Deputy leader of Congress. I have no paper with me, which says he is taking over as Deputy loP. So I cannot treat him as Deputy leader of Opposition," Kurien said. He also said there is no notice so far and he is making the record straight.
As the war of words between Kurien and Sharma were on, Congress members including Madhusudan Mistry, V Hanumantha Rao and JD Seelam trooped into the Well.
Seeking to clear the air on the controversy over allegations of removing Rajiv Gandhi's name from the Hyderabad airport, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the name of the late Prime Minister would continue for the international terminal of the airport. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju too said that names of both Gandhi and Rao were there when the airport existed at Begumpet in Hyderabad.
"Our attempt was to restore NTR's name on the building. While Rajiv's name continues, NTR's name has been restored," Raju informed the House.
Exchange of heated arguments between the AIADMK members and Kurien over DMK's Kanimozhi also stalled the proceedings of the Zero Hour during which the Deputy Chairman had to struggle to pacify the agitating members. The SP and the TMC members accused the Chair of not allowing them to raise their issues as much time was consumed by the southern parties. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh wanted to raise the recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh, but was disallowed as he had not given prior notice.