New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was Monday adjourned repeatedly over various issues, including statehood for Telangana, demands for the resignation of union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and the unrest in West Bengal over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee being heckled.
As soon as the lower house assembled after a month-long break for the second half of the budget session, Speaker Meira Kumar led the MPs in paying tributes to the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and victims of the April 4 building collapse in Thane, Maharashtra. Seventy-four people were killed in that tragedy.
Soon after that, members of Left parties first gathered near the speaker's podium, shouting slogans against the West Bengal government and holding up placards like "Stop human rights violations in West Bengal".
MPs from Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress followed immediately, protesting the heckling of Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra in the national capital.
The Telegu Desam Party (TDP) as well as certain Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh were on their feet too, demanding that parliament take up the creation of a separate state of Telangana.
Following this, the speaker adjourned the house till 12 noon.
When the house reassembled, Shinde laid a statement on the rape of a five-year-old child who is being treated for her grievous injuries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.
There was a huge din and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party started demanding Shinde's resignation over the issue. The Left parties and the Trinamool Congress also continued with their protests, prompting the speaker to adjourn the house till 2 p.m.
The speaker then adjourned the house till 2 p.m.
