Rajya Sabha loses question hour to disruption

The Rajya Sabha lost its question hour Tuesday as Congress leaders protested against the re-naming of a part of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

The issue was raised by Congress leader Anand Sharma, who said it was "unacceptable".

"The aribitrary change of the name of the Hyderabad airport... It was Rajiv Gandhi airport. This is unacceptable. We will not allow the house to run," Sharma said before the question hour was to start at noon.

As Congress members raised slogans, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house for five minutes.

When the house met again for the question hour, the Congress members were near the chairman's podium raising slogans.

Chairman M. Hamid Ansari asked the members to return to their seats. As the protest continued, Ansari adjourned the house till 1 p.m.

He was seen directing the secretariat staff to note down the names of all those who came near the chairman's podium.

According to reports, the domestic terminal of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad is to be named after the late N.T. Rama Rao, founder of the Telugu Desam Party.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday said the civil aviation ministry had passed the orders for the change.

The upper house earlier also saw protests over black money by Trinamool Congress and other parties.