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RS adjourned over petrol pump issue

Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday without transacting any business over the petrol pump issue as a vociferous Opposition stalled the Question Hour.

The trouble arose as soon as the House met for the day with a determined Opposition raising anti-government slogans calling for Petroleum Minister Ram Naik's resignation.

As the uproar continued for 10 minutes, Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla adjourned the House for the day.

The Lower House was also adjourned for 15 minutes over the same issue.

Heptulla informed the House that she had a letter from Naik saying that he would make a statement in the House on the issue and asked members not to derail the Question Hour.

The unrelenting Opposition, however, said the issue should be discussed forthwith and those involved in the alleged deal should resign.

Heptulla told some Opposition members not to point at the Chair, saying " I am not a culprit".

The deputy chairperson asked some Congress members and CPI-M member Nilotpal Basu not to wave newspapers.

As soon as Speaker Manohar Joshi entered the Lok Sabha, Opposition members including those from Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD and Left parties trooped into the well waving copies of a Hindi daily containing a report on allotment of petrol pumps and LPG agencies to ruling coalition functionaries and their close associates.

Demanding suspension of the Question Hour, they repeatedly shouted slogans like gali, gali mein shor hai, BJP chor hai (there is noise in the streets that BJP is a thief) and "we want resignation" of the petroleum minister.

Members from the Treasury benches also stood up to raise slogans to counter the Opposition.

Naik was present in the House and was seen speaking to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, seated next to him.

The Speaker's repeated pleas to the Opposition members to go back to their seats and that he was ready for a discussion on the matter went unheeded.

When Joshi asked members to put their queries, the questions as well as replies by Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh could not be heard in the din.

Opposition members demanded that their demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the petrol pump "scam" be accepted immediately by the government. They also urged the Speaker to hear their views on the "very serious matter". Joshi then adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

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