NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
As soon as the joint sitting, being held for the first time in 24 years, began at 1100 IST, the Left parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Indian Union Muslim League protested vociferously against the violence in Gujarat and shouted anti-government and anti-POTO slogans.
Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed, who presided over the joint sitting, repeatedly pleaded with the members to restore order.
At one stage, Sayeed called upon Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani to table the motion. Advani moved to the special dais to do so amidst loud protests from the Opposition benches and applause from members of the National Democratic Alliance. But RJD member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh rose with a point of order, at which the home minister returned to his seat.
Singh then went up to the microphone and made certain remarks, which were promptly expunged from the records. It took almost 20 minutes for the resultant din to subside, after which the home minister tabled the motion for consideration and passage of the bill.
The proceedings began with an obituary reference to Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi, who was killed in a plane crash during the inter-session period. Homage was also paid to the nine security personnel from the watch and ward wing, the Delhi police and the Central Reserve Police Force who were killed in the terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13.
The front rows of the packed Central Hall were lined with leaders of various parties. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was seated with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi.
Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi was flanked by Shivraj Patil, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla. With the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress abstaining, the joint sitting has around 755 members.
There were repeated interruptions from actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar and Akhilesh Yadav, both belonging to the Samajwadi Party, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, G M Banatwala (IUML), V Radhakrishnan (Communist Party of India, Marxist) and others, who were firmly told not to disrupt the proceedings. Sayeed said he would allow them to voice their views after the home minister had tabled the motion.
Welcoming members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sayeed said this was the third occasion when such a joint sitting had been convened. The first one was held in 1961 to pass the Dowry Prohibition Bill. The second was in 1978 to repeal the Banking Commission Bill.
Advani, while moving the bill, pointed out that Vajpayee was the only member to have attended both the earlier joint sittings.
The POT Bill seeks to replace the re-promulgated POTO, which lapses on April 8.
The POT Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 18 by a margin of more than 100 votes and rejected by the Rajya Sabha on March 21 by 15 votes, prompting the government to go in for a joint sitting to ensure its passage.
PTI
Tell us what you think of this report
