LS adjourned for the day after mourning Vajpayee's death

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Tuesday after paying tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and four other former and incumbent MPs who passed away during the intersession period.

Soon after the House met for the day beginning the Winter Session of the Parliament, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan made the obituary references. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of the deceased.

Mahajan described Vajpayee as a "visionary" leader of "masses" and one of the "greatest" parliamentarians.

"His personality will always be a source of inspiration for us," she said and conveyed sympathies of the House to the members of Vajpayee's family.

Vajpayee died on August 16 in Delhi after a prolonged illness.

The House also paid tributes to former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who passed away on August 13 in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Tributes were also paid to four sitting MPs -- Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar, Begusarai MP Bhola Singh, Senior Congress leader and Kishanganj MP Mohammad Asrarul Haque Qasmi and M.I. Shanavas, the working president of the Congress unit in Kerala.

Kumar, 59, died in Bengaluru on November 12 due to multiple organ failure. Singh died at the age of 82 on October 19 in Delhi. Qasmi died of a heart attack on December 7 at his home in Bihar's Kishanganj district at the age of 76 while Shanavas died on November 21 in Chennai.

"The House stands adjourned for the day. It will meet tomorrow at 11 a.m.," the Lok Sabha Speaker announced.

The Winter Session of the Parliament will continue till January 8.

--IANS

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