Pandemonium prevents food, insurance Bills from being taken up in Houses

FM said it was the "lack of consensus" among the Opposition that was holding up the Insurance Bill

Two crucial Bills - the Food Security Bill and the Insurance Bill - were supposed to be taken up in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively, on Wednesday. However, neither could be taken up as pandemonium gripped Parliament.

While disruptions over the Telangana issue stalled the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) pet food Bill, the equally important insurance Bill was "deferred" in the Rajya Sabha.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said it was the "lack of consensus" among the Opposition that was holding up the Insurance Bill. "If all were agreed upon it, I could bring in the Bill tomorrow itself," he told the Opposition benches.
 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was prepared to speak on the Bill, but the Opposition benches stated that the din caused by the protesting Telugu Desam Party members drowned out what Food Minister K V Thomas was saying. The Bill could not be taken up and will now only come after Monday, as the House takes a break for the Independence Day weekend.

The day had started on a promising note in the Rajya Sabha, with Vice-Chairman Hamid Ansari responding to members' objections to his remark that the House had descended into a "federation of anarchists". Members appealed to the chair to reconsider the remark.