With seven days lost in functioning of the Rajya Sabha due to continuous protest by the Opposition, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday appealed to members that the Upper House be allowed to function because people are being impatient and adjournments and protests show Parliament in poor light.
Naidu appealed to the members to allow the proceedings, but adjourned the House the moment members from the AIADMK, the DMK, the YSRC, the TMC and the Congress were on their feet making their respective demands. The Government, he said, has agreed for discussion on the issues being pressed by the Opposition, but the TMC and other parties want the debate under a Rule that entails voting.
“The Government has agreed to that and the Chair has also permitted,” he said, adding, “I don’t find any reason for agitation.” He also urged the members not to bring banners and placards into the Well. “Please desist from displaying banners and placards in the House,” he said.
Naidu also asked the members not to make comments while being seated. His remark was in reference to catcalls being made from Treasury Benches when he called member P Chidambaram to lay on the table a Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Home Affairs.
As Chidambaram was absent, a remark against him from the Treasury Benches led to forceful protests and comments from the Opposition Congress. Chidambaram’s son Karti is in judicial custody in an alleged bribery case.
When the House reassembled post-lunch, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, who was in the Chair, tried to take up a calling attention motion on strategic storage of crude oil and petroleum products in the country but protests resumed prompting him to adjourn for the day. Earlier, Naidu reiterated that ministers should refrain from using “colonial terms” during the proceedings.