New Delhi:
The Jammu and Kashmir issue rocked the Lok Sabha on Monday, with the Congress and other opposition parties creating ruckus, entering the Well of the House, shouting slogans and later walked out.
The House, however, continued to transact business amid slogan shouting by Congress members against the government.
They shouted slogans like “Shame on democracy”;”we want justice”; and “Pradham Mantri House mein aao (Prime Minister come in House.”
Congress, TMC and DMK later walked out of the House in protest.
The opposition was protesting the government’s decision to abolish Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two separate union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Cong) raised concern over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir saying the state never saw such a situation in the past.
“The state has become a jail”, he said, adding former chief ministers and leaders are in jail, Amarnath yatra has been cancelled and tourists have been asked to leave.
“Is there a war with Pakistan?” he queried as the Congress members sought a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As he spoke, BJP members outshouted him by raising slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.
Speaker Om Birla said that he gave the Opposition members opportunity to speak but they preferred to protest in the Well of the House.
Meanwhile, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would speak for the government but the unpacified Congress walked out along with TMC and DMK members.
Amid the din, the Lok Sabha took up The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, The Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill and The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill.
As the noisy scenes continued, UPA Chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was seen discussing some issue with party members, including Shashi Tharoor, and with DMK’s T R Baalu and Kanimozhi.
TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Saugata Roy were also seen interacting with Sonia Gandhi.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Manish Tewari, Tharoor and Roy were seen closely going through a bill and also referring to a book. It could not be immediately ascertained which bill they were discussing about.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav wanted to talk amid the din but was not given an opportunity.
When TMC’s Satabdi Roy was speaking on the bill related to transgender persons, Congress members — Hibi Eden and T N Prathapan — came near Roy’s seat and began shouting slogans standing in the aisle. TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee protested and after a brief exchange between him and some Congress members, Eden and Prathapan went back.
At one point of time, some members standing in the Well were seen clapping.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Home Minister Amit Shah would make a statement in the House.
