Both houses adjourned after obituary references

No business was transacted in parliament on the first day of the winter session Thursday as both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned after obituary references.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar led the House in expressing condolences over the death of Murarilal Singh, the BJP MP from Sarguja, who died Wednesday in Raipur at the age of 61.

"Murarilal Singh relentlessly worked for the welfare of tribals," the speaker said.

In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari paid tributes to Mohan Singh (Samajwadi Party), who was a sitting member of the house, and to its former members Ram Naresh Kushwaha (Samajwadi Party) and Dinanath Mishra (BJP).

The upper house saw some commotion when members from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that the chairman should also mention Patna blasts in the references.

"Terrorist attacks have always been condemned by the chair," BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad said.

Earlier, shortly before the two houses met, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought the support of all parties in transacting legislative business.

"This session of parliament is of a short duration, and therefore it is obligatory for all political parties...to make their best possible effort to (run the) business of the two houses as easily and smoothly as possible.

"We seek the co-operation of all segments of the house for the smooth passing of the essential legislation," the prime minister said.

The winter session of parliament which began Thursday will conclude Dec 20. The opposition parties have voiced concern over the "short" duration of the session which has only 12 working days and nearly 38 bills to pass.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had earlier this week said the government was determined to push through the Lokpal Bill and the Women's Reservation Bill.