Raj assembly pays glowing tributes to Atal, Somnath, Karunanidhi and others

On the first day of its monsoon session, the Rajasthan assembly Wednesday paid glowing tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee among others, who passed away recently.

After making obituary references, also to the victims of the Kerala flood-related mishaps, the House was adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to them.

Speaker Kailash Meghwal read out the obituary remarks and asked the House to observe silence for a minute for the late leaders and the people who died due to heavy rainfall in Kerala and other parts of the country.

The obituary references were also made to former Lok Sabha Speaker Chatterjee, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, former Chattisgarh Governor Balram Das Tandon, former Himachal Pradesh Governor Urmila Singh and former Manipur Chief Minister R K Dorendra Singh.

As soon as the House assembled, independent MLA from Khivsar assemblysegment Hanuman Beniwal tried raising various issues but the Speaker did not allow him.

After the House was adjourned, the Speaker asked the members to attend a group photograph session of the 14th Rajasthan assembly, which is to undergo elections later this year.

It is likely to be a stormy affair in the House on Thursday as the Congress has been demanding the session to run for at least 10 days to discuss various issues related to the farmers, law and order and unemployment among others.