New Delhi: Acrimonious scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday as agitated members of the Trinamool Congress, protesting alleged misuse of the CBI, and the treasury benches clashed when the Motion of Thanks on President’s address was taken up for discussion.
Principal opposition Congress too staged a walk out saying its members should have been the first ones to speak but were being denied a chance. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, that he wasn’t present in the House when his name was called.
As BJP MP Humkmdev Narayan Yadav initiated the discussion, most the TMC members trooped into the Well and started shouting slogans. Despite requests from the Speaker, they continued with their protest on the issue of CBI trying to question the Kolkata police chief in connection with the chit fund scam cases. When Yadav alleged that “corrupt and anti-social elements” were grouping together against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, most of the opposition members stood up and urged the Speaker to expunge the statement. As the verbal duel continued, Aparupa Poddar (TMC) and Veena Devi (LJP) made threatening gestures at each other. The situation was salvaged by senior members of the House.
A visibly upset Speaker then asked the members to maintain decorum and adjourned the house for 10 minutes till 2:30 pm. When the House reassembled, Yadav praised the various initiatives of the government for uplift of the poor, downtrodden and marginalised. Invoking Mahabharata, he said that the 2019 general elections will be “a battle between right and wrong”. He urged the people to stop following their caste leader and not to be swayed away by them and instead vote for the BJP as it is working for social equality. He also said it is only the BJP government which had the courage to bring in 10 per cent quota for general category, without disturbing the overall reservation limit. The noisy protests continued as the House met again and the Speaker then adjourned it briefly till 2.30 pm. (PTI)
