At last, Oppn gets Lok Sabha to adjourn over conversion issue

The adjournments occurred after one Lok Sabha member got hospitalised and another was rebuked for flinging newspaper's pieces at the Speaker's face

The Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Monday followed in the footsteps of its Rajya Sabha counterparts, with its activities leading to adjournments over the issue of religious conversion.

The adjournments occurred after one member was hospitalised and another was rebuked for throwing shreds of a newspaper at the Speaker's face.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government distanced itself from the religious-conversion row. When the Opposition trooped into the well, demanding a statement from Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said neither the government nor his party had anything to do with the conversions.

In the Zero Hour, the Congress's K C Venugopal pointed to reports about the ghar wapsi (homecoming) of 30 Dalit Christians to Hinduism in Kerala. The Opposition demanded Modi make a statement as "only his writ runs in the country".

Naidu rejected the demand. He said neither the government nor his party supported conversion or re-conversion, and that it was a law and order issue to be handled by states. The minister asked Venugopal to ask the Congress government in Kerala to take action. Naidu said the country was peaceful and the Opposition was trying to make it a political issue.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge pointed out Naidu had earlier said in the House he was a proud Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteer. Naidu said, "You are proud of the Gandhi parivar (family), I of the Sangh parivar." He objected to the Opposition's slogans such as "The PM has run away."

The House was adjourned when Rashtriya Janata Dal member Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, who was leading the slogan-shouting in the well, tore and threw pieces of a newspaper at the Speaker's face. Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai adjourned the House for 10 minutes. When the House re-convened, Kharge said the Opposition didn't intend to insult the deputy speaker. He accused the government of bulldozing its way. Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s member Anirudhan Sampath started shouting when the microphone at Kharge's chair was turned off.

After prolonged shouting, Sampath choked. Several members, including doctors Harsh Vardhan and Jitender Singh, rushed to him. He was taken to a hospital on the premises and was discharged after tests.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition had walked out on the government's failure to bring back unaccounted (black) money stashed abroad.

The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to raise the authorised capital of regional rural banks to Rs 2,000 crore and enable these to mop up funds from the capital market.

It also referred to a standing committee a Bill to amend the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.