Parl session begins with face-off over Uttarakhand

The Parliament session began today with a face-off between the ruling and opposition benches as the Modi government was slammed over imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
Amid opposition demands for a discussion on the issue, Congress members created ruckus in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, accusing the BJP-led dispensation of toppling democratically-elected governments of opposition parties, a charge rejected by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
In both the Houses, Congress members stormed the Well.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi joined party members in raising slogans as Leader of the party in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and some others staged a dharna in the Well as their notice for adjournment motion on the issue was rejected by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

The Rajya Sabha could not transact any business as it was repeatedly adjourned due to the pandemonium. It was finally prematurely adjourned for the day minutes past 3 pm.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, while raising the issue, accused the government of "deliberately provoking" the opposition and "inducing" disruption so that Parliament does not run.

He said for the last one year, it has been seen that efforts are being made by the ruling party to create a situation that the House does not function.
The senior Congress leader, while pressing for a discussion on the issue, said he had never seen that a government "does things during the session or just days before the session so that Parliament does not function".

He said during last winter session, the duly-elected Arunachal Pradesh government was "brought down" and the Centre did not stop till it installed its own government there.
Azad said President's rule has been imposed in the past also, but never in such a "crude" way.
When he said he wanted to congratulate the judges of the Uttarakhand High Court for "having the guts to fight the Government of India", Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said there should be "no commentary" on the judicial issues.
As Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to the raising of the Uttrakhand issue saying the matter was sub-judice, Azad said the Centre "which disrespects the court, cannot be trusted".

"Discussion will take place," he asserted, as several Congress members carrying placards stood in the aisle.
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) countered Naqvi saying Leader of the House Arun Jaitley had said in the last session that discussion on issues, even if sub-judice, cannot be prevented in the House. "Apply your own precedents," he said.