RS adjourned till Wednesday, opposition stages mock parliament

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday refused to move out and staged a mock parliament after the Upper House was adjourned till Wednesday. Earlier, the House saw repeated adjournments amid opposition's noisy protests over "misuse" of CBI by the government.

The opposition MPs refused to leave the House after adjournment on the ground that breaking the tradition, the Chair did not announce a day's extension in the working days of the House, nor did it seek the members' consensus.

The winter session of Parliament was scheduled to conclude on Tuesday, but the government informally announced that Rajya Sabha would work for one more day.

In the morning, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu did announce the decision in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting at 10.30 a.m., but he did not make an announcement from the Chair in the House.

The Opposition members raised slogans against the government and conducted a mock Parliament session after the House had been dispersed and made speeches criticizing the government and calling for Opposition unity.

Around half-an-hour later, the members led by leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad walked out and staged a protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament House premises.

"Modishahi nahi chalegi, tanashahi nahi chalegi (dictatorship will not work)," the MPs shouted slogans.

Earlier in the day, the upper House saw repeated adjournments amid opposition's sloganeering and protests.

In the post-lunch sitting, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned as many as four times in one-and-a-half hour, before it was finally adjourned for the day.

As soon as the House met at 2 p.m., Opposition members cutting across party lines came near the Chair's podium and started shouting slogans.

"CBI ka durupyog band karo (Stop misusing CBI)," they shouted in chorus.

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda introduced the Medical Council Bill amid the din.

However, the members who stood up to speak on the Bill, could not do so amid the noise.

At 3.30 p.m., the House was adjourned for the day.

Earlier, in the morning, the upper House was adjourned till 2 p.m. minutes after it met. As soon as the papers had been tabled, the opposition members raised their voice against the "misuse" of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the government against its political rivals.

Sensing the Opposition mood, Chairman Naidu adjourned the House till 2 p.m. even before any MP could reach near the podium.

Outside Parliament, the MPs expressed dismay and said they had been taken by surprise by the government's unilateral announcement about the extension of working days.

"Our only source of information was a news agency. We came to know through it that the sitting of the House of which I am a member is being extended by one day," said an MP.

"If at all it has to be extended, it has to be announced first that the House is being extended. And then it has to be pronounced that it would meet tomorrow at this time. That has not been done. So who knows the House sitting was being extended? No one. This is unethical," DMK leader Tiruchi Siva, who is also on the panel of Deputy Chairpersons of the Rajya Sabha, told IANS.

Congress leader Raj Babbar termed the incident as "unprecedented" in the history of Rajya Sabha. He said there was "no discussion" about the extension either on Tuesday or on Wednesday from the government's side.

However, the opposition is not likely to boycott the proceedings on Wednesday, when the government is likely to bring the Bill seeking 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker people belonging to the "general" category.