Rajya Sabha adjourned as sloganeering over 2G verdict disrupts Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden speech
Vociferous sloganeering on Thursday disrupted Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha since his nomination. Members of the Opposition shouted “BJP sharam karo” as sloganeering continued in the Upper House of Parliament on the fourth day. Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 11 am on Friday following stormy scenes on the floor of the House.
Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu tried to control the situation. “You don’t want to respect a person with a legendary record in India, you do not respect sports. I’ll leave this to your better sense,” Naidu said finally saying that the ruckus in Parliament will not be live telecast and the House was adjourned.
This was Tendulkar’s first attempt at initiating a debate in Rajya Sabha where he has been a member for five years and is a year short of completing his term. According to The Economic Times, Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 2G scam “propaganda” that helped them come to power in 2014.
Earlier on Wednesday, Congress protests over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “conspiracy with Pakistan” remark against his predecessor Manmohan Singh led to a virtual washout of the Rajya Sabha proceedings, even as Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said there was no question of an apology. Congress members also alleged that the treasury benches were directing the Chair and not allowing the Congress leaders to speak.
The lower house, which witnessed two adjournments in the pre-lunch sitting over the issue amid protests by the Congress MPs, was disrupted again as it met at 2 p.m as they gathered near the Speaker’s podium raising slogans.
On 19 December, Congress members’ protest over Modi’s attack on his Singh during the Gujarat polls drew condemnation from the government, which accused it of holding “mock proceedings” in the House in violation of the Chair’s rulings. Members of the Opposition party trooped into the Well during the Question Hour after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed their demand to raise the issue.
It had little effect on the Opposition as they persisted with their protests raising slogans like ‘Pradhan Mantri maafi mango’ (prime minister apologise), even as Mahajan continued with proceedings in the din.
