Ansari ticks off members for disrupting question hour

Amid ruckus again in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Chairman M. Hamid Ansari ticked off members for creating a din that prevented others from asking questions during the allotted time.

Ansari asked if it was "appropriate" for members to raise issues of their own interest during question hour and zero hour that have been structured for members to raise relevant issues.

"In normal course, 10 to 12 members raise issues during zero hour... Some 30 to 36 members raise issues during question hour. That makes a total of 45 members every day," said Ansari.

"Is it appropriate for any individual member or group of members to raise an issue of interest to them during either zero hour or question hour?" Ansari questioned tersely.

"We have structures the programme of the house so that maximum benefit is given to members who are here. All I say is take it up," the chair told the members.

Ansari, who usually does not allow members to raise any other issue in the question hour, also heard Congress member Anand Sharma and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Bhupender Yadav.

Sharma wanted to raise the issue of the Uttarakhand budget being listed for the day, which Ansari rejected and asked him to raise it when the business is taken up.

Yadav meanwhile stood to support Trinamool Congress member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, who has been repeatedly urging the chair to invoke rule 255 against the disrupting Congress members. Yadav urged the chairman to take action against the Congress.

Ansari however said that since Roy raised the issue when Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien was in chair, Kurien would give a ruling.

Ansari's attempts to make the house work failed.

"I appeal to honourable members..." the chairman said.

Congress member meanwhile started raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which Ansari adjourned the house for half an hour.

--IANS

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