Amidst opposition uproar Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm

The Rajya Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned till 2 p.m. as the opposition tried to corner the government over demonetisation and the terror attack on an army camp in Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir.

As soon as the House was reconvened at 12 noon after the first adjournment, opposition members stood up and started chanting "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" and ignored the Chair's call for question hour.

Interestingly, the treasury bench MPs also raised the same slogan.

Amused at this, Chairman Hamid Ansari observed, "There is total agreement in the House."

However, when the sloganeering did not stop, Ansari adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Earlier, when the House met for the day at 11 a.m., opposition members demanded an obituary reference for the army personnel killed in the Nagrota attack as well as for the over 80 people who have died in bank queues post demonetisation.

Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad was the first to raise the issue.

"Our seven soldiers, including two senior officers, have died at Nagrota. The House must first pay homage to them, and after that to the 82 people who have died due to government's wrong policy (of demonetisation)," Azad said.

He was joined by Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy who also pressed for an obituary reference for the killed soldiers as well as for the "people who have died in the queues".

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, Janata Dal-United's (JD-U) Sharad Yadav and Samajwadi Party's (SP) Ram Gopal Yadav also raised the same demand.

Ram Gopal Yadav also reiterated the demand for compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the people who have died in bank queues post demonetisation.

Amidst the ruckus the Chair adjourned the House first till 12 noon, and later till 2 pm.

--IANS

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