M A I N   N E W S

Singur, Ambedkar stall Parliament
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4
The ongoing protests against a controversial car project in Singur, West Bengal and desecration of the statue of B R Ambedkar in Kanpur rocked Parliament today with both Houses plunging into a pandemonium.

the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting business after the BSP led by its leader Mayawati and BJP members forced adjournment on the desecration and ‘arrest’ of BJP president Rajnath Singh in Singur, West Bengal.

The BJP MPs created acrimonious scenes in both Houses over the detention of party president Rajnath Singh while visiting Singur, where the Trinamool Congress has been agitating against the Tata Motors car project.

In the Rajya Sabha, zero hour saw a noisy walkout by the BSP on the Ambedkar issue over which the party, along with the Congress, demanded dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

Demanding a CBI probe into the desecration of the Ambedkar statue as well as the arrest and alleged torture of a dalit, BSP chief Mayawati led her party colleagues into the well and staged a walkout.

This enraged Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who termed the demand for Central rule as an assault on the federal structure.

Amidst the din, BJP members stormed the well, protesting against the ‘arrest’ in Kolkata of their party president, who was on his way to Singur where the CPI(M) government has decided to hand over land to the Tatas.

As CPI(M) members led by Brinda Karat objected to this, the House witnessed a turmoil, leading to its adjournment for the day.

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee allowed special mentions to be laid in the din and also took up a discussion on the issue of price rise amid noisy scenes. The discussion ended with the reply of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

When the Lok Sabha met in the post-lunch session, BJP members staged a noisy walkout in protest against the ‘arrest’ of Mr Rajnath Singh in West Bengal.