Winter session of Parliament begins amid corruption charges

Amid charges of corruption in the Commonwealth Games projects and Adarsh housing society scam, the Winter Session of Parliament began today with Opposition seeking to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha but with little success.

Soon after Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar made obituary references, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia was on his feet demanding discussion on the adjournment motion submitted by him on the Adarsh Housing Scam.

The Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to sitting member Arjun Sengupta, who died on September 26.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav appeared set to disrupt the Question Hour insisting on a response from the government on certain remarks made by Army chief V K Singh with regard to China.

Yadav and his party members trooped to the Well of the House which angered Finance Minister and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee. He was seen gesturing towards Yadav asking him to return to his seat.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said the government had not received any notice from the Samajwadi Party regarding the issue.

"The rules of business state that a notice has to be given to the government to enable it prepare a response on any issue. No notice has been received from the Samajwadi Party. The government is ready for discussion on any issue," he said.

Yadav stuck to his demand but received no support from members except those belonging to his party.

He and SP members were in the Well for some time and went back to their seats after Kumar said that Yadav should raise the issue in the Zero Hour. The House then took up the Question Hour.

Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha Speaker had convened a meeting of leaders of political parties and expressed the hope that the House will function smoothly.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking to reporters outside Parliament, also hoped that the Winter Session of Parliament will be peaceful and productive.

"We are looking forward to the session and we hope that this session will be peaceful and productive," he said, adding the government was willing to discuss all issues with opposition parties.

The Prime Minister's remarks came shortly after the Congress asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to submit his resignation to the governor in the wake of the Adarsh Society Housing scam in Mumbai.

Ahead of the start of the month-long session, the Congress also accepted with immediate effect the resignation of Suresh Kalmadi as Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party. He has been in the eye of a storm following allegations of corruption in Commonwealth Games-related projects.