Poster war of Congress, BJP in LS comes unstuck

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan berates Congress, BJP MPs for showing placards; cautions them with disciplinary action for disorderly conduct

Parliament could transact little business on the third successive day of the monsoon session on Thursday with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan yet again warning MPs from both the Opposition Congress and the treasury benches against showing placards inside the House even as the general nature of the charges being traded between the two sides sunk to a more personal level.

The Speaker berated the Congress and BJP MPs for showing placards and cautioned them with disciplinary action for disorderly conduct. BJP leaders said some of the slogans raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Congress were in bad taste, while the Congress was upset at a privilege motion against Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, having been accepted. Congress MPs trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans against "Twitter PM" for his failure to remove External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP members showed placards that highlighted the various scams under the Congress ruled state governments. One placard read "C for corruption, C for Congress" and another questioned the Congress for taking a moral high ground when its party president's son-in-law had seized land from farmers. Congress placards asked the PM to show his "56-inch" courage to remove Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje. Another stated that "junior Modi" (former Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi) has the blessings of "senior Modi" (the PM).

If it were the Congress placards against the PM that upset the BJP, the Congress was riled by BJP Chief Whip Arjun Meghwal moving a privilege motion against Vadra for having insulted Parliament in his post on a social networking site.

STICKING POINTS
What the placards said

• Ulta chor kotwal ko daante, kisano ki zameen damaad ko baante
• C for corruption, C for Congress
• Congress ka raaj jahan, ghotalon ki baadh wahan
• Modiji 56-inch dikhao, Sushma, Raje ko turant hatao
• Bade Modi meherban, toh chhote Modi pehelwan
• PM chuppi todo