This was the first week of the second leg of the Budget Session of Parliament, in which the Finance Bill 2018 and Demands for Grants are slated to be passed.
The Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out for the fifth straight day as members of several parties including TDP and AIADMK, continued their protests over various issues.
Disappointed over the Centre not granting the status, the TDP had yesterday pulled out its two ministers -- Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Y S Chowdary -- from the Narendra Modi-led government. However, the party continues to be an NDA ally.
While the AIADMK was demanding setting up of the Cauvery Board to settle water disputes with neighbouring states, few others were seen holding placards of Dravidian movement founder Thanthai Periyar, whose statue was defaced recently in Tamil Nadu. The TRS pressed for increased quota of Telangana.
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Soon thereafter, the members of various parties trooped into the Well carrying placards and raising slogans, prompting the Speaker to remark that after a minute of silence, the House was again witnessing din.
Members from AIADMK, TDP and YSR Congress were in the Well holding placards. Raju, senior TDP leader who had quit as the civil aviation minister, was also seen standing in the Well with his party colleagues demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. Like others, he too was wearing a stole depicting his party's colour. While one TDP MP was holding an idol, another had donned a colourful traditional headgear.
At noon, the noisy protests continued and the House was adjourned for the day soon after the listed papers were laid.
Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha too, where the proceedings were disrupted again today as members of several parties stormed the Well over various issues including India's biggest bank scam and special package for Andhra Pradesh, no sooner were the listed papers laid.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not wait long enough and adjourned the proceedings till 1430 hours. "One week has gone waste. This is no good. This is sad," he commented before adjourning the proceedings.
The historic move came a day after the International Women's Day when the members had expressed concern that there was no woman member in this panel, which was agreed to by the Chairman.
Referring to this, Naidu said that in deference to the wishes of members expressed on the occasion of International Women's Day yesterday, he is nominating Parveen on the panel with effect from April 3.
Parveen would replace Basawaraj Patil, whose term expires on April 2, Naidu said, adding that she has been a mayor and the chairperson of the Bihar Mahila Aayog.
Naidu, who is also Vice President of India, is the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, while P J Kurien of Congress is the Deputy Chairman. The panel of vice-chairmen or presiding officers includes Satyanarayan Jatiya (BJP), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), T K Rangarajan (CPI-M), Bhubaneswar Kalita (Congress), Basawaraj Patil (BJP) and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray (Trinamool Congress).
"Viplove, in our language, means revolution," he said. Naidu's native language is Telugu.
When the Upper House reassembled at 1430 hours and took up the Private Members' Business, Pramod Tewari (Cong) tried to raise a point of order on the issue of the banking scam. However, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien disallowed him from doing so and asked him to persuade his protesting party colleagues to return to their seats from the Well.
Today being Friday, Private members' business was listed in the afternoon. There was no official bill listed in the business for the day.
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