Parliament loses another day to disruptions

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day Wednesday after noisy protests over various issues including Telangana and food prices.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien called off business after failing to restore order in their houses.

The Lok Sabha was the first to be adjourned until Thursday.

The two houses lost their question hour as disturbances broke out within minutes after they met for the day's proceedings.

In the Lok Sabha, members from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh shouted slogans against the division of the state to create Telangana, drowning out the question hour.

There were also protests on rising food prices and the deaths of children in relief camps housing Muslim riot victims in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaker Meira Kumar first adjourned the house till 12 noon.

When it met at noon, members again resorted to protests over a parliamentary report on 2G spectrum allocation as well as attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy.

She also told the house that she had received notices for a no-confidence motion against the government from several members.

As the din continued, Meira Kumar said she was "compelled" to adjourn the house again -- for the day.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha following which Chairman M. Hamid Ansari adjourned the house first till 12 noon.

When it met at 12, the BSP demanded that that 17 more castes be brought into the Other Backward Class category. The BSP members were supported by the Samajwadi Party.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkiah Naidu meanwhile demanded a discussion on the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the 2G spectrum allocation.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien's repeated pleas to restore order were not heeded to, following which the chair adjourned the upper house till 2 p.m.

SP and BSP MPs remained belligerent when the house reconvened.

Some DMK members also moved towards the chairman's podium demanding the release of Tamil fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy.

Unable to bring order, Kurien adjourned the house for the day.

This is the fifth day of the short winter session with 12 working days. No major business has been transacted in parliament so far.