Rajya Sabha disrupted over conversion issue

The Rajya Sabha was disrupted Monday as the opposition refused to allow any business in the house without taking up a discussion on the conversion issue.

The house saw the zero hour and the question hour being disrupted before being adjourned till 2 p.m.

Raising the issue in the upper house, Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "We have given a notice for suspension of question hour. There is a serious situation in the country."

"An organisation that calls itself a social organisation, has started a controversial programme on 'ghar wapsi'," Sharma said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said there were reports that schools have been asked to remain open on Christmas.

"No business is more important. We have read all schools have been asked to stay open on Christmas."

"You have 'Swachhta Divas' on Gandhi Jayanti, good governance day on Christmas. This with conversions that are going on, are a serious concern," said Yechury.

Denying Yechury's claim, union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there was no such instruction from the central government.

"There is only an online essay competition on good governance. I have asked the HRD minister. She said schools have not been asked to stay open on Christmas," Jaitley said.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien told the members that Chairman M. Hamid Ansari has refused to admit the motion.

Opposition members continued with their protests, forcing Kurien to adjourn the house till noon.

Earlier, AIADMK members raised slogans over a question being asked in railway employment examination on the removal of party chief J. Jayalalithaa from the chief minister's post.

The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, alleged that the central government was controlling Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Saradha chit fund scam.

"The president of BJP is writing the script for the CBI. The CBI is being used for political vendetta," Trinamool leader Derek O'Brien said.

When the house met at noon, protests continued forcing the chairman to adjourn the house for another 10 minutes.

The scene remained the same when the upper house reassembled, forcing the chairman to adjourn the house till 2 p.m.

Trinamool Congress members also protested in Lok Sabha, blaming the government for misusing the CBI. The members then staged a walk out in protest.