Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha lose question hour

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha lost their question hour to protests Monday, the first working day of parliament's short winter session.

In both the houses, members from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) raised the issue of children dying in relief camps set up for Muzzaffarnagar riot victims.

In the Lok Sabha, the BSP members trooped near the speaker's podium and raised slogans demanding dismissal of the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh.

Members of the Telugu Desam Party, meanwhile, raised slogans of "Save Andhra Pradesh", as the state is to be bifurcated to form a separate Telangana. The lower house was adjourned till 12 noon.

Similar scenes were seen in the Rajya Sabha where soon after obituary and other references, the BSP members created a pandemonium on the issue.

"Fifty children have died. Uttar Pradesh government is a killer government. They killed these children," BSP leader Satish Mishra said.

TDP members also raised slogans, forcing Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Hamid Ansari to adjourn the house till 12 noon.

First two days' sittings of the two houses, which started their winter session Dec 5, were adjourned without transacting any business. On Dec 5, the houses adjourned after customary obituary references, and on Dec 6 the houses paid tributes to former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died the previous night. He was a Bharat Ratna award winner.

The winter session is scheduled to end Dec 20.