Rajya Sabha sees chaos, adjournments over demonetisation

The Rajya Sabha on Friday witnessed multiple adjournments during the first-half of the day, with opposition parties continuing with their protest against the government's move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

As soon as the upper House of Parliament met for the day's business at 11.00 a.m., a united opposition started raising slogans against the government.

The agitated members refused to listen to the chair's repeated requests to calm down and created uproar, leading to the adjournment until 11.30 a.m.

As the House reassembled, the opposition parties demanded apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, leading to a second adjournment, this time until 12.00 noon.

Similar scenes were witnessed once again as the House met at 12.00 noon. Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari pleaded with the members to go back to their seats, assuring that their concerns would be taken care of.

"Please go back to your seats," he kept on repeating, but the bedlam continued, forcing the chair to adjourn the House for 30 minutes again.

The Rajya Sabha was disrupted yet again as it met at 12.33 p.m. The Chairman asked the agitating members to maintain peace and let the House function, but they did not pay attention to his pleas, forcing him to adjourn it.

The House was then adjourned until 2.30 p.m.

Opposition MPs assembled near the Chairman's podium raising slogans against the government.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi sought an apology from the Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad for comparing the death of soldiers in the Uri terror attack with that of those standing in queues outside banks and ATMs post demonetisation.

The Rajya Sabha had a day-long debate on the issue on the very first day of the on-going winter session of the Parliament, but opposition parties became restless when Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not show up in the House during the debate.

Thursday onwards, they started demanding presence of Modi in the House, saying the Prime Minister should be there as it is an issue of national importance.

--IANS

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