R.S. adjourned for second consecutive day on Uttarakhand, JNU issues

With the main opposition the Congress party demanding a discussion on the issue of imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday witnessed repeated adjournments in pre-lunch session.

The House was adjourned thrice till 2 p.m. amid sloganeering by agitating Congress members against the government.

Raising the issue, Deputy Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said the Congress has given a notice to take up a discussion on political developments in Uttarakhand, but the government is not allowing discussion, saying the matter is sub judice.

Countering the opposition, leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaintley said the real breakdown of Constitutional machinery in Uttarakhand was due to the decisions of the Presiding Officers to "convert majority into minority and minority into majority".

"The Congress didn't wait for the proclamation to be laid before both Houses to be discussed. It has never happened in this country thus far, when a defeated Bill was declared pass. The proceeding of the Uttarakhand assembly says that members had asked for a division, which was not allowed," Jaitley pointed out.

However, shooting back at Jaitley, Leader of the opposition in the Upper House Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "When the Uttarakhand Governor directed chief minister Harish Rawat to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly on March 28, why did not the BJP government wait till then."

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati demanded a discussion on Article 356, which confers power upon the Centre to impose President's Rule in case of failure of constitutional machinery in state, saying it is being widely misused by various governments at the Centre.

Earlier, Left members raised the developments at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), demanding a discussion in the House.

Prof. P.J. Kurien adjourned the House till noon as noisy scenes prevailed. However, there was no change in the situation when it re-assembled at 12.35 p.m., following which Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari adjourned the House till 2 PM.

However, the House was adjourned till 11 a.m on April 27 after commotion prevailed when the House resumed at 2 p.m.