Oppn rake up Chhattisgarh graft issue, BJP opposes

Opposition Congress today tried to corner the BJP by raising the issue of a Chhattisgarh minister's wife allegedly buying state forest land to build a resort, but the treasury benches opposed it saying it was a state issue.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien rejected rule 267 notice given by Pramod Tiwari and P L Punia (Cong) that sought adjournment of proceedings to discuss the matter.
Tiwari named the minister involved but Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the name should be expunged.
"It is a state issue" and cannot be discussed in Parliament, he said.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said if state issues are allowed to be discussed, the ruling side would also like to raise issues pertaining to opposition-ruled states like Karnataka.

Kurien asked Punia, who wanted to raise the issue, to give some other notice.

Earlier, Naresh Agarwal (SP) raised "insults" heaped on the Upper House in an article in a Hindi daily. He said the article questioned the relevance of Rajya Sabha.
He wanted the Chair to take cognisance of the issue, just like Uttar Pradesh assembly had done in the past when it had jailed the culprit.
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad (Cong) said this was not a matter of an individual but the entire House.
Kurien said if anyone felt that there has been a breach of privilege, a notice can be given and the Chair will consider it.

"If you raise it in some other form, I have no problem," he said.